AFCON bid: Was it a glass half-full or half-empty?
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday September 30, 2023 06:00
At 2:30pm Monday, a Botswana delegation boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight destined for the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
The crew, on a mission to land Botswana the rights to host the 2027 AFCON finals, took to the skies amidst rising optimism but touched down three days later at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport with mangled wreckage. Now a nation is sifting through the wreckage where once what was regarded as a compelling bid, stood.
It all began with neighbours Botswana and Namibia announcing their intention to launch a joint bid to host the AFCON finals. The response was not overwhelming if social media was used as the barometer.
Much of the debate did not centre on the benefits of hosting, but rather on the timing and the preparedness of the two countries to venture into the financially demanding project.
A joint facilities audit was conducted by South African firm, Ruben Reddy Architects, at a cost of over P2 million. But as the two countries prepared to put together the bid document, Namibia decided to end their brief journey, pulling out at the 11th hour, citing other pressing commitments.
Botswana was in danger of hitting the cul-de-sac before it could even hit the heights.
But days later, at a press conference, a defiant Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare announced that Botswana would go on a solo adventure. Flanked by senior government officials and the Bid Committee, Rakgare struck a confident tone, declaring, “we are in it, to win it”. But the timing was running out and the country was expected to submit a bid book within 30 days. Ruben Reddy Architects were once again asked to deliver the document within a limited period.
The bid book would cost the government P61 million, an amount some critics felt was too steep. Critics of the project argued that the government had other immediate priorities citing the need to refurbish the A3 road, which at the time had just claimed 22 lives in one incident. The shortage of drugs and medication at health facilities was another area regularly referenced.
However, Rakgare indicated the benefits would far outweigh the costs, hence the need to proceed with the project. Despite the back foot, the project rumbled on and Ruben Reddy delivered the 569-page document to Cairo by deadline day.
In July, a team of CAF inspectors from PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) were in the country to gauge Botswana’s preparedness to host the tournament. Botswana had promised CAF that it would build three new impressive facilities while upgrading existing ones.
At this stage, the train had long and truly left the station and while dissenting voices remained audible, they were now being fast drowned by the optimists and ultra-patriots. Some chose to see the glass as half full, swallowing the project hook, line, and sinker. At the other corner, the voices of the pessimists persisted with arguments, the bid, while a noble idea, had come too soon and appeared rushed. Botswana last hosted a major football tournament in 1997 when organising the CAF Under-17 tournament. Hosting tournaments like the COSAFA Cup could have provided baby steps and served as a precursor to bidding or hosting the AFCON finals, some would argue. The other concern was that there was hardly sufficient consultation for buy-in from stakeholders including the general public before the decision to bid was taken.
There were some reports the project was pushed from the Ministry of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture’s corner while the Botswana Football Association (BFA) felt sidelined. This development raised the curiosity of journalists who inquired about the absence of BFA representatives at press briefings to update on the bid. This came amid reports the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti and minister, Tumiso Rakgare, did not see eye-to-eye.
Letshwiti is part of the CAF executive committee and voted in Wednesday’s secret ballot, while Rakgare led the Botswana delegation in Cairo. Sources said the three-member team that inspected Botswana’s facilities was concerned with the country managing to meet the deadlines within three years, particularly building three new stadia.
But while the Botswana bid appeared to lag behind that of Senegal and Algeria, the joint effort from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda emerged as a surprise winner. Kenya has a history of failing to meet CAF deadlines and as recently as 2018, the country was stripped of its rights to host the Africa Nations Championships (CHAN).
Botswana will feel CAF was complicit in the failed bid, as the process leading to the awarding was murky. For starters, at the close of submission of bids on May 23, only Botswana, Egypt and the PAMOJA bids had submitted their names.
However, in unexplained circumstances, other nations including Algeria, Senegal and a joint bid from Nigeria and Benin found their way into the list of bidders.
The outcome of Wednesday’s voting was not made public and the build-up to the announcement was rocked by Algeria’s withdrawal. The North African country accused the CAF of predetermining the outcome.