Focus on substance not just elections
Dennis Keagile | Friday July 25, 2014 16:18
The animated campaign tends to overlook the many challenges the association faces. Policy and constitutional matters seem to take a back seat. Instead, affiliates are bombarded with election campaigns of Tariq Babitseng, Leviet Ntwayagae and Segolame Ramotlhwa.
I want affiliates to put all the aspiring candidates to the test and hold them accountable. There should be a set of targets for all those who go into office than the blanket cheque they are given with the hope they will deliver.
In other words, we are having hopeful candidates that have not set goals.
With all due respect, I had expected Ramotlhwa to take a breather from the campaigns or politics of football. I want him to recharge his batteries given what transpired in the past.
There are insinuations that BFA president, Tebogo Sebego prefers Babitseng, a man who was his campaign manager a few years ago. My problem is having people who are too close to run the affairs of any organisation.
The problem with friendship is that it tends to compromise certain things as objectivity is thrown out of the window. There is therefore need to create a balance in the leadership of the association. All the candidates ought to explain themselves clearly rather than give us a wish list or enumeration of the challenges of the game.
The candidates have to explain how long they can take to tackle these challenges, how they intend to improve the secretariat, bring more sponsorship and address constitutional issues.
During his campaign, Boyce Sebetela spoke about creating regional offices around the country so as to fast track the development or communication process.
This would see technical people being posted around the country to avoid the current concentration in Gaborone.
In fact the establishment of regional offices is long overdue because the branches cannot be run from the boots of cars. Having regional offices can make it easy to coordinate competitions and produce quality leadership.
It is the absence of regional football and offices that also makes the constituency league attractive. I therefore want the likes of Ntwayagae, Babitseng and Ramotlhwa to take a stand on this including whether they support the autonomy of the Premier League.
For long it has always been suggested that the First Division and the Premier League should be under one umbrella as it is the norm worldwide.
The BFA vice president for administration has a lot to do in trying to set up structures and giving guidance to the regions. It therefore needs someone with a broader understanding of the nitty-gritties of football administration.
Affiliates ought to vote wisely and should resist the temptation to be bought because they are disadvantaging themselves and Botswana football. Let the best candidate win.
Zebras
The Zebras’ 2-0 win against Guinea Bissau in the first leg of the AFCON 2015 qualifiers might look healthy and comfortable but the moment the opponent pulls a goal back, it becomes a very fragile lead.
This therefore means that the second leg is far from settled. And, like I have said before, the Zebras ought to qualify for the group stages at all costs. I am therefore appealing to the BFA not to give up in securing the duo of Joel Mogorosi and Mogogi Gabonamong.
The association needs to beg South African club, Bloemfontein Celtic for the players. Talking hard like Zebras coach, Peter Butler will only worsen attitudes. Nowadays, players have more loyalty to their clubs than the national team.
Some clubs are known to ask players to fake injuries so that they can miss national duty unless it is the World Cup qualifiers.
But so far so good for Butler and his team which consist of Pio Paul and Sakaeyo Jane. There is still need for greater team-work after the recent reports of discord.
Butler and his team need to be more united rather than trying to bring each other down or score cheap political points.
The second leg will be much tougher and the Zebras must be prepared for the psychological battle that will be unleashed by Guinea Bissau.
As a result, no stone should be left unturned as the away battle will be much more fierce and rough.
We need all the foreign-based players, hence the BFA will have to be at its best in terms of persuasion. Otherwise congratulations to Butler and the boys.