14 Oct 2018

The Francistown Sports Complex is set to host the second leg game between Zebras and Stallions of Burkina Faso in the 2019 AFCON Group I qualifiers on October 16.

The prospect of jammed traffic along the A3 and thousands of excited supporters chanting victory songs and blowing their vuvuzelas are predicted.

With the uninspiring performance of the senior national soccer team, which used to serenade Francistown residence by beating other national teams, some residents fear their stadium will turn into a white elephant as it is starved of major activities with only three years in operation.

Adding to their fears, the relegation of Tafic from the BTC premiership to the Debswana First Division North league after losing to Black Forest 2-0, meant no major super league games for them.

The 26 000 seater stadium appeared set to be the most attractive venue for major sporting events when it started operating in 2015, hosting the three major events being a game between Botswana and Burkina Faso on October 9, Extension Gunners taking on Mochudi Centre Chiefs  before Zebras played Eritrea there.

When it opened in September 2015, the sport facility was immediately a hit with Francistown residents and provided memorable feats for the Zebras as they beat giants of African football one after the other.

The biggest crowd for a Zebras game was recorded at the new stadium when 26 662 fans paid to watch the team in action against Mali.

“I remember the Mali game vividly because the stadium was packed to the rafters and our boys played well. When we scored the last minute goal it rained on the 86^th minute after many months of soaring heat with no rain. I cried tears of joy. I have never felt so proud to be a Motswana. This stadium brings fond memories but nowadays I see it from the road going to my home village of Sebina and it doesn’t excite me much,” a resident of Francistown and an avid soccer fan, Moemedi Tebogo said in an interview.

The relegation of his number 1 soccer team in the city, Tafic and poor performance by the Zebras have drained all the wonderful moments of his time at the stadium.

When Uganda inflicted the first defeat on the Zebras in June 2016, the Zebras’ pie began to crumble. The number of people attending the Zebras games and the euphoria began to dwindle. 

The low attendance could not be missed during the Mauritania game last June and was even worse when Zebras battled it out with Bafana Bafana of South Africa for CAF’s fifth African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2018 Southern Zone’s match 13 first leg on Saturday July 15, 2017.

There were literally empty seats at every stand during the Bafana Bafana CHAN game. 

The senior national football team, which often played to a full house Francistown Stadium with roars of cheers, applause and choirs had no one backing them that time around. 

The mood was sombre as Bafana Bafana beat them 2-0. 

“This venue is a state-of-the-art complex and why it should remain closed without major events to keep it alive every weekend still beats me. There should be soccer matches and music festivals there. First division north teams should be allowed to play some of their games there even,” chipped in another Francistown resident, Kago Boitsholo.

Member of Parliament for Francistown West, Ignatius Moswaane also voiced his concerns over lack of activities at the sports complex which falls under his constituency.

“My believe is for the city leadership to work hard in reviving the economy of Francistown first, which would automatically attract investors who would in-turn sponsor our local teams. Running a football team is not cheap and our teams need serious financial backing. If all this teams in the city had serious sponsors, we could be having at least two to three teams in the premier league from the north which would mean premier league games at our sports complex,” Moswaane said. 

His solution is for the city council to make the stadium cheaper for people to hire, saying the current charges were scaring potential businesses and events away. 

He promised to engage the relevant authority on the matter, saying that it would be a travesty to sit back and watch a P300 million sports complex go to waste. ENDS