30 May 2025

Botswana Premier League (BPL) will over the upcoming 2025/26 season, become the first elite league in Southern Africa to introduce video assistant technology (VAR), Botswana Football Association (BFA) President Tariq Babitseng has said.

Addressing the 2024/25 FNB Premiership Awards ceremony in Gaborone on May 28,  Babitseng said BPL, whose competition would for a second successive season be called the FNB Premiership for sponsorship reasons, would commerce its next season in early August with VAR technology.

VAR encompasses having television technology manned and monitored by a fifth, additional match official working with the main referee, two linesmen (on pitch referee assistants) and pitch side fourth official to verify marginal decisions.

In the world's most advanced football leagues the main VAR official is accompanied by three assistants to help monitor and verify the decisions, reduce human error, improve accuracy and promote fairness. Introduced in the 2012-13 football season in the Netherlands’s elite league Eredivisie, and later adopted by other professional leagues in Europe and the global football body FIFA.

While, VAR introduction in Africa has been slow, Morocco is the first African league to introduce it in 2019 Egypt in 2020, and plans are on course for South Africa and Tanzania to also pilot VAR.

In addition to the video technology, Babitseng said extensive training would be availed to guide the usage of VAR in the domestic league.

He further said that in the upcoming season, plans were underway to reintroduce the Charity Cup and Top 8 tournaments in order to increase the level of competition in the BPL and extend commercial partnerships in the elite league.

Babitseng thanked FNB for supporting the Botswana Football League over the past season and committing to two more football seasons as the title sponsor of the FNB Premiership.

Peter Kesitilwe, the board chairperson of the Botswana Football League (which administers the BPL and its feeder leagues, First Division North and South) lauded BFA for giving elite football autonomy to run its operations.

“We were given room to grow, your trust has been the foundation for the success of the league. Through the commitment of the board, we were able to run a smooth season,” Kesitilwe said.

He added that they were guided by the pillars of talent development, transparent governance integrity and inclusivity, improved fan engagement; pursuing financial sustainability and fair play.

First National Bank Botswana chief financial officer, Mbako Mbo said FNB Premiership had been an exciting journey for them as a corporate entity, as supporters showed up in good numbers to matches countrywide and many teams competed for the league title in an exciting race eventually won by champions Gaborone United.

He said FNB had long been involved in football through sponsoring grassroots development and were now committed to ensuring that the elite league which directly feeds the national team was professionally run, with clubs becoming more structured and connected to their communities.

“FNB Botswana is honoured to walk this part with you as partners. As we close this season, let us work to benefit our clubs, the future of Botswana football is bright and FNB will be part of it," he said. ENDS