A bid that died before it was born
Mqondisi Dube | Monday September 28, 2026 06:00
What had been touted as a possible joint southern African bid with South Africa and Zimbabwe collapsed at the most basic hurdle, the submission of the required documents. Like in 2024, the blue, black, and white nation is once again left to ponder what could have been after another bid to bring the Africa Cup of Nations finals to the doorstep of Batswana collapsed before it could even get off the ground. Under the previous administration, Botswana went all the way in its pursuit of the 2027 AFCON, whetting the appetite of a nation before CAF president Patrice Motsepe delivered the devastating news from a hotel conference room in Cairo. A delegation led by then-Minister of Youth, Sport and Culture Tumiso Rakgare boarded an Ethiopian Airlines flight back home, crestfallen. A joint East African bid by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda had carried the day, crushing Botswana's hopes.
Despite the controversy surrounding the astronomical P63 million reportedly spent putting together the bid book, Botswana returned to try its luck again, this time through a joint bid with neighbours South Africa and Zimbabwe. But this time, the effort fell flat before the starting gun had even been fired. Botswana, like other interested nations, was expected to submit its bid documents by Monday, September 14, 2026. When the submission window closed, however, there was no document from Gaborone on the desk at CAF headquarters in Cairo. This week, it emerged that the government had declined to back the bid, citing financial constraints. BFA president Tariq Babitseng declined to comment on the submission, instead referring inquiries to the Ministry of Sport and Arts. Minister Jacob Kelebeng had not responded to MmegiSport inquiries sent on Tuesday. However, sources indicate that the government made it clear that it could not support the bid, coming so soon after the country had spent heavily on the Botswana Athletics Association's hosting of the World Relays in May.
“The government used a lot of money in hosting the World Relays, and this came so soon after. The BFA was told that there was no money required to host the competition,” a source said.
The position appears to mark a significant shift from February, when Kelebeng was quoted as saying Botswana was keen to host the AFCON finals together with South Africa.
Somewhere between that declaration and the CAF submission deadline, however, the tune changed, and finances became the dominant refrain.
The BFA reportedly felt let down. Unlike the 2027 bid, where Botswana would have carried a much greater share of the hosting burden, the proposed 2028 tournament was to be jointly hosted by three countries, with South Africa expected to shoulder the bulk of the responsibility.
More significantly, sources indicate that the government's decision effectively killed the process before it reached the stage where any major financial commitment was required.
“What was required were guarantees for things like security, work permits, and telecommunications infrastructure. There was nowhere the government was required to commit financially,” the source said.
The official also pointed out that only minimal refurbishment was expected, given that Botswana would be a partial host, whilst the National Stadium in Gaborone and Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown had already passed CAF's homologation requirements.
But the government was aware that financial commitments would eventually arise.
“There was no reason to let the process go the distance. It was better to terminate it at the initial stage,” a government official within the Ministry of Sport and Arts said.
That, however, leaves a bigger question hanging over Botswana's failed bid. How much would partial hosting actually have cost, and was a cost-benefit analysis undertaken before the government decided to pull the plug?
Those questions are now part of the post-mortem of a bid that was, in effect, stillborn, an ambition that died before it was born. The failed bid raises questions on whether Botswana has missed another opportunity to use Africa's biggest football tournament as a catalyst for infrastructure development and broader economic activity.
For the second time in as many AFCON bidding cycles, Batswana are left to contemplate not what was, but what might have been.