League to start this weekend – Showa
Mqondisi Dube | Friday August 28, 2026 10:05
The start of the season was thrown into doubt this week after the Botswana Football Association (BFA) requested for a postponement. The BFA cited the ongoing COSAFA CAF Champions League qualifiers which Botswana is hosting, and felt the start of the league could take away some limelight from the women's competition. Showa said they agreed to work around the issue and not have league matches on Saturday. 'The issue with BFA was around the COSAFA tournament, they said let's not take away the attention.
We will not interfere with Saturday, so that the final gets the attention it deserves,' he said. Rathari said they had indeed sought a delayed start to the league due to the women's regional competition. 'Indeed, the BFA requested the postponement of the FNB Premiership Week 1 to allow for the conclusion of the Women's COSAFA qualifiers. BFL is yet to respond to the request, but we are hopeful they will consider the request,' acting BFA chief executive officer, Bathusi Rathari, said on Thursday afternoon. Showa said there was an agreement to have the league proceed and the expectation is that all teams fulfil their fixtures. This comes amid report that there were only six clubs that had agreed to this weekend's start. 'We are not aware of any team that is opposed to the start of the league.
The league is starting this weekend. We have not received any communication from any teams that says we are not participating. If we receive, we will seek to understand the club's reasons and advise the concerned club accordingly,' Showa said. Another matter that needed to be addressed pertained to club licensing by the First Instance Body (FIB). The licensing body issues licenses at the start of each season, but as of last night, FIB chairperson, Phadza Butale said they were still working on the process. Showa said he had received assurances from Butale that all clubs had passed the vetting.
'I personally spoke to the chairperson of the licensing committee who gave me comfort that there is no team has failed. We expect them to officially communicate tonight (last night) or Friday morning,' he said.