A year of mixed fortunes for BFA

| Wednesday December 22, 2010 00:00

 

The year saw the curtains fall for former BFA chief executive officer Mooketsi 'Tosh' Kgotlele who was sacked on April 21 after more than six months of suspension over match-fixing allegations. BFA instituted investigations into reports that the Zebras lost 4-1 away to China last year after money changed hands. On September 29, the association replaced Kgotlele with former Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president, Judge Mookodi. The latter was head-hunted after an initial recruitment exercise failed to get the right candidate.

In June, Africa hosted the World Cup for the first time and it was expected that Botswana would reap  some of the benefits because of its proximity to hosts, South Africa. Contrary to expectations, Botswana did not implement any of the recommendations that were made about opportunities that go with the FIFA World Cup. Stadiums were not completed on time, hence the country lost out.

At the end of July, the fourth BFA General Assembly went ahead without any hitches. Prior to the assembly, there were efforts to topple the National Executive Committee (NEC). A document entitled Need for change at the BFA NEC, had been circulated to regions, calling for a change in the leadership during the assembly. The concerned members felt the leaders had failed football.

And then there was the Constituency Tournament fiasco. BFA misled the nation saying that FIFA had threatened to take action against BFA if the issue was not resolved. Fortunately, FIFA ruled out any punitive sanctions against Botswana over President Ian Khama's-inspired constituency tournament.

BFA then dashed the country's hopes to host the 2015 AFCON finals after failing to meet the September 30 CAF deadline.

BFA left it until late and only submitted the document bid to the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) a few days before the Independence Day deadline.

The BNSC forwarded the bid document to the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Shaw Kgathi, but it was reportedly too late for government to consider the proposal.

On 1 December, BFA announced that Serbian coach, Veselin Jelusic, would not extend his contract with the association.

Jelusic had a good stint as Zebras' coach between 2002 and 2006 before being redeployed to youth development.He leaves for Belgrade, Serbia, tomorrow (December 23).

The country then scored a first when COSAFA shifted the base of the Metropolitan Under-20 tournament from its traditional South Africa venues to new territory, Gaborone. Botswana has been commended for staging the annual event well despite being asked to do so at the 11th hour. The December 3-12 tournament was won by Zambia.