AFCON joint bid in jeopardy
Mqondisi Dube | Friday September 26, 2014 14:34
It has since emerged that the government of Botswana has not been officially informed of the alleged deal struck between the BFA and Zimbabwe Football Association. Even if the Botswana government is taken on board now, the Tuesday deadline may prove a deal breaker.
Without speaking to the existence or lack of an agreement, the BFA president Tebogo Sebego told Mmegi Sport last night that the association would, today, clear the air.
Sebego noted that the reports in the Zimbabwe media about a joint bid to host the biennial tournament, have created confusion.
“We will revert to them (ZIFA) tomorrow (today). There seems to be misunderstanding on some issues. We might issue a press release,” Sebego said.
While the BFA was on record saying it had tasked its chief executive officer, Keith Masters with engaging the government over the bid, it has emerged the idea might just be a pie in the sky. Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) chairperson, Solly Reikeletseng said nothing had been formal communicated to his office.
Reikeletseng said hosting a high profile tournament like the AFCON requires a thorough process, which cannot be crafted overnight.
“We are only reading about the whole issue through the press. To bid for the AFCON finals is a daunting process, which requires thorough planning. The association has to show the benefits and the expenses, which come with hosting. Then they should be buy-in from the private sector before a comprehensive business plan is developed. This should then be submitted to the BNSC before we pass it to the ministry (of sports) which will also forward to the cabinet,” Reikeletseng said.
He said such a process does not take anything less than three months. CAF’s deadline for submission is next week Tuesday.
“I have not heard from the BFA on this issue. I am sure the ministry is as clueless as we are. Due process has to be followed,” said Reikeletseng. He said even if Botswana was to co-host, the government has to take a lead since bidding is a national agenda. “It is no longer about a sport code.
Hosting is at the pinnacle of what we want to do, but it should be done right. I just hope that no one has done anything that contravenes the process,” Reikeletseng said.
The BFA has reportedly been communicating with their Zimbabwe counterparts. Media reports in Zimbabwe yesterday said the two are proceeding with preparing a bid document to be submitted to CAF on Tuesday.
Zimbabwe Football Association chief executive officer, Jonathan Mashingaidze was quoted by that country’s NewsDay as saying Botswana had acceded to their request. “They have responded well and they are very keen. We are still working on the document for the bid,” Mashingaidze said.
A letter purportedly authored by BFA’s Masters to ZIFA partly reads: “Please accept this letter as the BFA’s commitment to jointly hosting the finals with you. I will revert as soon as I have a response from the ministry.”
But Reikeletseng is not amused. “Just because no one wants to host, we should not rush. We did well with the Youth Games bid now we cannot afford to get the government into unnecessary debt,” Reikeletseng said. Hosting AFCON finals will reportedly setback the two countries in excess of P300million.