'Protecting The Game'– Leadership challenges
Ashford Mamelodi | Saturday March 9, 2024 07:07
The situation was in all likelihood worse during my decade-long stay at the Botswana Football Association (BFA) as head of the secretariat.
There existed a perception that once one had played football, this gave one some right to administer, oftentimes coach and even be a referee of the game. Nothing is further from the truth. As with all other disciplines of sport, it was important that before one calls oneself a leader, one must have engaged with the principles of leadership over and above having some knowledge of the game’s culture.
Additionally, one must like the sport. I was blessed during my tenure to have worked under mainly two presidents who, although different, had the requisite attributes to lead the game. Olebile Gaborone also known as ‘Mr Fix It’, was a football fan on the one hand, and on the other, he led the Botswana Telecommunication Corporation as CEO. He was a stickler for good governance and collective responsibility. He brought to the game a very strong leadership pedigree. The late Ismail Bhamjee was also a football fan having been a FIFA Referee and having served on both executive committees of CAF and FIFA. He had a strong business background.
My last president albeit for a very short time was David Fani, who not only led a top club, Gaborone United as the chairman and served as a National Executive Committee (NEC) member before he ascended the presidency, but was also a lawyer by training. I was also fortunate to have served under NEC members who brought an array of different talents to the table. Amongst them was our long-term treasurer, the one and only Pako Keokilwe (PK), an accountant by training who was previously a treasurer for another top Gaborone club, Township Rollers.
‘PK’s multi-talents were not only a marvel to behold but great to engage with. I will readily admit that although some leadership training was done during my stay at BFA, it was far too little. The game in Botswana survived thanks to a sprinkling of leaders, particularly in clubs playing in the top league.
It did not help that even when training courses were availed, the top leadership of football felt these were too inferior for them to attend. This sadly leads to a retarded growth of the game over time. I have had the fortune of working with a good number of officials some of whom stood out as having a strong passion and dedication to managing the game in Botswana.
Some of these are mentioned in the book. Two such officials stand out – Tshepo Mphoeng and Sinka Kanyengvu – who both benefited from a FIFA-led extended training programme and qualified as FIFA Regional Instructors for administration and management. If the two were maximally utilised at home, they would greatly assist in alleviating the dearth of leadership in football.
This chapter in my book on leadership will hopefully and aptly communicate the importance of leadership in football and sport in general. Not until we reconcile with this fact and invest in leadership training, can we be assured of growing our respective codes in sport not excluding football. Most squabbles that we read about in the media relating to sport can almost always be traced back to a deficiency in leadership.
* Mamelodi is the author of the soon-to-be-released memoir, 'Protecting The Game,' which captures insights into his decade-long stay at the helm of the BFA.