Club Licensing now a rubber stamping exercise

Mqondisi Dube | Wednesday August 20, 2025 10:15

Club Licensing, a quality standard, is a CAF requirement and Botswana cannot afford to be adopt a lackadaisical approach to the process.

Since its adoption into the domestic league, the Botswana Football Association has leaned more towards leniency over strict adherence to the rules. Licences have been granted to all clubs including ones that are regulars in the overdue payables column.

In the past some clubs failed club licensing only to be granted provisional licences which was understandable as the football leadership wanted to avoid throwing away the baby with the bath water.

But some clubs appear to have abused this leniency and the FIB is not helping matters by being too generous with the licences.

The FIB cannot confidently say that all clubs have passed the club licensing test, particularly given the deluge of players and coaches who regularly file cases of contractual breaches over payments.

From the look of things, the confetti at a wedding modus operandi is the preferred mode, a detrimental, nonchalant approach that makes mockery of efforts to develop professional football. How do all 16 clubs, some well known for their perennial financial struggling, continue to get the licences?

The Footballers Union of Botswana (FUB) is always inundated with cases of overdue payables, and this is an indicator of violations. It then should follow that the public should be seeing more clubs on the list of those that have failed club licensing.

The leadership might then use its prerogative to negotiate how these clubs can be assisted to comply. It is cynical to tell the nation that despite the evident blood on the floor, there are no arrests or convictions.

If FIB indeed issues licences to clubs that have violations, including severe one like overdue payables, then it will embolden such clubs knowing whatever the circumstance, the licences will be dished on a silver platter.

The onus is on the FIB to ensure that strict adherence is followed otherwise, it will reverse whatever gains made in the past towards a path to a professional league. To give licences to undeserving clubs will finally catch up as something with horns cannot be forever concealed.

There must be zero tolerance for laxity where clubs will adopt a laissez-faire attitude to a process that is central to the progress of changing the outlook of the domestic game, in line with the dictates of CAF regulations.