Time for all hands to the pump in AFCON bid

Mqondisi Dube | Monday May 29, 2023 16:00

Namibia’s coitus interruptus at the very last minute left a sour after taste, but powers that be in Botswana felt a solo bid was worth a go. This despite lingering questions over the costs of a solo bid.

The reason for a joint bid was to ease the financial burden of organsing the tournament. The Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport, and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare recently told the media, Botswana went to the extent of sending overtures to a reluctant Zambia to join the bidding efforts.

But all attempts to have a triumvirate of southern African countries bidding to host the 2027 showpiece came to nought. Rakgare said with Zambia joining, the costs would have been made even lighter as its public knowledge that hosting the AFCON finals costs an arm and leg.

It is particularly steep for countries like Namibia and Botswana where some facilities will have to be built anew. It will not be surprising therefore if the budget for hosting shoots to around P20billion. Discombobulating is the fact that Botswana went ahead with a solo bid, after initially indicating that even a joint bid would still be steep, hence the reason to court Zambia for a three-nation effort.

If it was going to be a challenge even with Namibia on board, one wonders how much is now on Botswana’s shoulders in the solo bid. A lot of budget shifting and reprioritising will have to take place in the coming months. But in defence, allies of hosting will argue, there are massive benefits to be reaped. However, it will be more of a cash deluge (hopefully) within the 30 days of hosting.

Post that period, the massive facilities, in particular, stadia, will need to be maintained. The hope is that authorities have done thorough due diligence on the benefits that will accrue from hosting and have empirical evidence, rather than relying on ‘so and so hosted and made money’. It should be a case-by-case approach.

What is good for the goose might not necessarily be good for the gander in this instance. Obviously, there are fears that the tournament hosting, while benefitting the wider population, could only have a significant impact on the pockets of the elite few. Tenders will go out, or have already started going out and it is not too wide off the mark that there is already a group that has arrived at the dining table. Certainly that group is not the ordinary men and women from Kauxwhi, Sekodomboro, Majwaneng or Nlapkhwane.

However, all this no longer matters as the AFCON bid die has been cast, least people opposed to the bid might be seen as anti-progress. It is a national project after all that requires all hands on deck, whether you will be eating at the top table, or you will be the Lazarus at the bottom end of the chain. The lobbying has taken off, with technical bid committee chairperson, Ashford Mamelodi travelling to Johannesburg over the weekend to make a pitch to COSAFA members who have reportedly endorsed Botswana’s bid. COSAFA has five voting members in the CAF executive committee, including the Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Maclean Letshwiti.