21 Jun 2020

Twenty-two candidates vying for Botswana Football Association (BFA) positions have submitted their names to beat Friday’s closing date.

“We received all applications before the close of business on Friday.

They were sealed and signed by all the candidates,” the association chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo said in an interview.

BFA is expected to go to an elective congress on August 8, and all candidates will go through a vetting process to ensure that they meet the set criteria as enshrined in the BFA constitution.

Mfolo said out of the 22 candidates, six were women.

He said three women candidates had shown interest in competing for BFA presidency explaining that two teams had two women each and the other had one woman.

Mfolo said the sixth woman was a solo runner, who had shown interest in the position of women representative.

He said from June 22-29, the electoral board would be examining the applicants’ names, adding that as part of the secreening process, they would be looking at among others, the eligibility of candidates.

Mfolo said the board would check if candidates had criminal records and insolvencies as per the eligibility criteria.

“Since these are issues that touch on ethics, the electoral board has requested assistance from the World Football governing body, FIFA, to assist with eligibility,” he said.

Furthermore, he said all the names, would also be subjected to ‘fit for purpose’ in line with the FIFA integrity test.

He said the electoral board would publish the names of those who had passed the integrity test on June 30, adding that should there be other candidates who feel aggrieved by the decision of the electoral board, they had the right to take the matter to the appeals board.

He said the appeals board was made up of Professor Bojosi Otlhogile as chairperson, assisted by Maduo Maoto while additional members are Dickson Gabanakgosi, Hilda Modisane, and Patricia Mmoloke.

 “August 8 still stands, unless COVID -19 regulations dictates  otherwise.

But as things stand, we are preparing for that day,” he said.

Mfolo said preparation for the general assembly was ongoing. ENDS