13 Aug 2024

The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has started preparations through grassroots football development to take the national football team to compete at the 2028 Olympic Games. 

Speaking during a donation of brand new football kit and balls in Tsabong recently, BFA chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo said the national Reset Agenda and Mindset Change campaign had compelled the association to shift gears to be able to achieve their dream of competing at the 2028 Olympics. 

To achieve that, he said, they needed to start preparing under 17 players for qualification. 

However, he noted that at present, the fact that sport had not yet been reinstated in schools, posed challenges toward achieving the dream adding that they were now looking at the regional football associations to train youngsters. 

Mfolo highlighted that regional football associations were the engines of football development, adding that they were looking at them to prepare the under 17 for the Olympics. 

He said BFA would begin preparations straight away.

That, he said would be done through the Talent Development Scheme, where they would first begin by scouting for talent at regional level, which would then be equipped and trained. 

The BFA CEO said according to FIFA rules and regulations on qualifying to compete for Olympics, talent must be identified, trained and equipped with coaches to develop such talent. 

He said according to the rules, the identified talent must train a minimum of four times in a week and hold a competitive match on a weekend to be able to prepare for any competitive competition. 

He said they would start with COSAFA zonal competitions then CAF, world competitions and ultimately Olympics. 

“The regions would be very instrumental in achieving that as they are the nerve centers of football,” he said. 

Meanwhile, the new football kit and balls donation were delivered by the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti, where the Tsabong Regional Football Association  made of seven men teams and four women teams became the first beneficiary of what will become a nationwide donation of kit and footballs worth over P2 million. 

For his part, Letshwiti said the donation, which was from Saudi Arabia-based King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, would cover all 368 BFA affiliated football teams in Botswana including women. 

The donation, he said, was in line with the national Reset Agenda adding that there was a pressing need to overhaul football in Botswana from grassroots to a higher level. 

Such overhaul, he said, would make clubs sustainable and even more resilient. 

Thus, he highlighted the need to start to do things differently at all levels of football. 

“The BFA adopted the Reset Agenda a few years back, which included good governance, league development, marketing and sponsorship,” he said. 

He highlighted that grassroots football remained the bedrock of football development adding that regional football was the nerve centre of the game adding that if neglected then the whole structures would collapse. 

To this end, he said, the BFA continued to deploy resources to the regions to sustain football, adding, ‘when football develops at grassroots level, we begin to see changes at the top tier leagues and also at national level.’ 

The BFA president buttressed the need to entrench good governance at all structures of football, uphold constitutions, which must be FIFA compliant, and have financial discipline and accountability at club level. 

Kgosi David Toto II expressed appreciation for the donation, which he said would go a long way in developing the game of football. 

He called for the reinstatement of sports in schools, adding that lack of play in schools affected grassroots football development. 

Kgosi Toto II suggested that, with finances permitting, there should be trained sport coaches including football coaches in schools to effectively identify future stars. 

Tsabong East councilor, Peter Megano, said Tsabong was remote and lacked many amenities and therefore must be given special dispensation of subsidy on accommodation and transport when the local teams played away games as transport and accommodation were a challenge for them and the long distance as well. 

Black Rangers FC chairperson, Titos Tuelo, appreciated the donation, which he said would go a long way in developing teams. 

He said they faced numerous challenges and for the BFA to donate kits and footballs, it was a relief for them, which they have ticked out of the shopping basket. Ends