Butale hits at BFL over club licensing

Mqondisi Dube | Monday September 7, 2026 06:00

Phadza Butale, the chairperson of the First Instance Body (FIB), the organ responsible for licensing FNB Premiership clubs, has said the BFL should put its house in order after this season's process was concluded just hours before the first game kicked off.

Butale defended the licensing process, saying everything was done above board, but he laid the blame squarely on the BFL's doorstep.

'There is a communication breakdown between the BFA (Botswana Football Association) and the BFL. They brought the papers very late, and on our side, we do our job 100%,' he said.

Butale dismissed concerns that club licensing has turned into a box-ticking exercise, arguing that there was a lot of work that goes behind the scenes.

'We sent some things back to the clubs to correct. Those clubs that owe, paid a lot of money to players (in order to clear and obtain a licence). Our committee is made up of people with integrity,' he said.

Butale advised that the BFL should be more organised and ensure documents are submitted on time to the FIB. 'There is a lot of work to be done. To scrutinise documents from one team takes more than an hour, and if you bring them late, it affects,' he said.

Butale added that he had communicated to his office at the BFL to ensure a seamless process going forward. Previously, some clubs that had overdue payables were allowed to participate, raising concerns about the cracks within the local licensing process.

Butale moved to assure that the exercise is handled with integrity. He wondered why the BFL sets the season start date before the conclusion of the Club Licensing process. But BFL acting chief executive officer, Idah Moinisi said there were factors outside their control that delayed the licensing.

'The delay in the licensing of clubs was mainly due to two factors. Firstly, the deadline had to be extended becayse the initial deadline fell during the July holidays, Secondly, there were functionality-related challenges, particularly around workshops for teams on the Club Licensing Online Platform,' she said. 'As you know, there were also personnel changes within some teams, which affected the process and pushed the completion date forward,' Moinisi added. The league started on the wrong footing with the Township Rollers and Jwaneng Galaxy game postponed after the former travelled to Jwaneng with only seven players.

The BFL had set the past weekend as its scheduled season start date, but there were concerns the league was not entirely ready for action.

In particular, the licensing of clubs was lagging, with an added dimension being the BFA's request to delay the start due to the recently concluded COSAFA women's CAF Champions League qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Rollers' encounter against Orapa United this weekend has been postponed to allow the club to regularise after a recent FIFA transfer ban was lifted. Moinisi said the postponement is only for this weekend's match. 'Regarding the postponement of the Rollers match, the postponement is only for this week. This was done to give them time to close out their outstanding matters,' Moinisi said.