Women�s football teams face expulsion
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday August 11, 2017 17:11
Mmegi Sport is informed that by yesterday afternoon around, 55 teams were yet to subscribe to the local football governing body.
A source said of all the regions, only Kweneng teams had complied by yesterday afternoon while 55 teams across the Gaborone, Palapye, Selebi-Phikwe, Francistown, Tsabong, Boteti and Kasane were yet to affiliate. The source however said only teams in the Gaborone regions were likely to meet the deadline.
“Many teams especially in the regions where women football was recently established feel that the whole project is still new to them hence in some way drag their feet to pay the fee,” the source said yesterday.
The informer did not rule out the possibility of teams being granted special dispensation by the BFA and cited maladministration at the teams. “It is chaotic out here; there are signs of lack of experience in football administration at some teams.
I would not be surprised if some affiliation forms are slipped under the door; there is that possibility,” the source said. BFA marketing and communication manager, Tumo Mpatane could not share details but said they will have to wait until the affiliations period closes. “We close today, so we cannot give you a set number now. We wait for our regions to confirm,” he said.
It was also revealed at the Women Football annual general meeting that clubs had not paid affiliation fee to the National Women Football Committee (NWFC). NWFC chairperson, Itsholeng Disang told the gathering in June that of the 77 teams registered with the NWFC, only Gaborone based UB-Kicks paid their affiliation fee last season. The teams which fail to pay the affiliation fee will be de-registered from the BFA and will not take any part in the association’s competitions.
The snail’s pace in teams affiliating with the BFA cast doubts over the new women regional football league initiative. “I do not think it will work. They (BFA) should have let the old structure on since it was going well. It might have motivated other regions to start their own leagues copying the style used at the Super League,” the source said.