Premier League holds crucial Indaba

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Friday July 23, 2010 00:00

 

The Botswana Premier League (BPL) will hold a crucial general assembly on Sunday to discuss motions ahead of a decisive Botswana Football Association (BFA) Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Among the motions to be discussed by BPL will be the incorporation of the First Division into the Premier League, the recognition of the Premier League as a legal entity, the reduction of Premier League teams from 16 to 12 and the holding of the BFA general assembly on a yearly, as opposed to biennial, basis.

The motions have been forwarded for consideration during next weekend's BFA AGM. BPL general manager, Phuthego Setete explained that although the motions have been forwarded to the BFA, the BPL meeting at Lekidi Centre will also discuss them at the Sunday meeting. 'We will discuss the motions further and see if we still have to forward them to the BFA,' Setete said.

The basis of the motions is the Bosele Declaration, football's blueprint towards professionalism. The motion that might attract a lot of interest will be the reduction of Premier League clubs to 12 at the start of the 2012-2013 season. The clubs were increased from 12 to 16 at the beginning of the 2004-2005 season, in what was seen as a move to accommodate popular community sides, Gaborone United and Township Rollers, who were then in the First Division.

The move to reduce the numbers in the Premier League might face stiff resistance from some quarters.

Setete said the BPL meeting is expected to tive August 14 kick-off date and discuss the season's draft fixtures.

He could not immediately reveal if there will be an official launch of the league. 'We are not sure if there will be an official launch. That will be decided by the sponsor (be MOBILE),' he explained. The start of the season will be marred by the unavailability of stadia, as most facilities are still incomplete. Setete said the SSKB Stadium in Mogoditshane will be used sparingly as the surface is not entirely ready for action, while the availability of UB Stadium has to be clarified. The National Stadium remains unavailable while the new Francistown and Lobatse Stadiums are incomplete.

This leaves the league without a reliable venue in Gaborone, as the nearest facility with a holding capacity of note is the Molepolole Sports Complex, 50km outside the capital.

On Sunday, the Premier League Committee (PLC) will appoint a board of governors to run the Premier League competition for the next two seasons.