BFA elections spark stampede
Mqondisi Dube | Monday May 25, 2026 06:00
The elections will determine delegates who will vote at the 2028 BFA elections, which will see the voting in of the association's new national executive committee. The regional elections, therefore, have added significance. Submission deadline for the candidates was May 6, after which the BFA elections committee commenced its examination process, which included the integrity test. The Elections Committee concluded its work and published the list of candidates last week. The list shows increased interest in the elections, with 58 fighting for the regions and the BFA structures' chairpersonship. In the Boteti region, four have expressed interest in taking charge of the region's football affairs, whilst Tswapong has the highest number of candidates at six. Other regions like Hukuntsi (five), Central South (five), and Kang (four) have also registered high interest.
But some like the newly formed Makgadikgadi, Gaborone and the First Division North, surprisingly have chairperson candidates standing unopposed. This week, the BFA issued the voters' roll for the elections, which are likely to give early signs of where the 2028 BFA leadership polls will go. 'In the interest of transparency and accuracy, the Electoral Committee has resolved to publish the voters' roll to allow all structures and delegates to verify that their names and identification numbers are correctly captured. All concerned structures are therefore requested to urgently share the voters' roll with their respective delegates for the verification process,' the Elections Committee said in a statement. The statement urged that delegates should report any discrepancies by the close of business on Thursday.
Despite the high number of candidates, BFA president, Tariq Babitseng, during a press conference on Tuesday, said he was disappointed with the low interest from women. 'From the 28th, we will be having elections, starting with women's football in Francistown. We have the 22 structures, and we have only four women standing for the chairperson's position. For the vice chairperson it is only two and in one region. In all, it is not a good number,' he said. 'It is not bad, but it is not good enough. I would like to encourage women; I can't talk about men because they are the dominant group. In one region, six men are vying for the position of chairperson.'