The Botswana Football League (BFL) last week announced it will begin a long overdue operation to reduce Premier League teams to 12, a move that could have painful but positive implications for the growth of the competition.
In the next three seasons, the 16-team assembly will shed four sides on a permanent basis as the league returns to a format that existed pre-2004. The Premier League was then forced into a populist stance to increase teams from 12 to 16 in a move meant to placate community teams, Gaborone United (GU) and Township Rollers.
At the time, Rollers and GU were campaigning in the lesser fashionable First Division, with the Reds particularly struggling to make it back through results on the pitch. It was then decided that the boardroom was the perfect platform to effect changes that would jettison the two giants back into the elite squadron.
It was a project anchored more on populism and the desire to dilute the influence of so-called institutional teams. While the increase in teams had its obvious advantage, including a heterogeneous competition, it also came with its own challenges.
The good is that the increase gave birth to a number of sides across the country, with the likes of Orapa United, Jwaneng Galaxy, Sankoyo Bush Bucks and Sua Flamingoes ensuring the game is spread across the length and breadth of the country.
The addition of four teams also meant there was more personnel, including players and officials, employed at different clubs, ensuring that more families put bread on the table. However, the downside has been that, particularly faced with a shrinking budget, the league has become unsustainable.
You need to look no further than the number of cases the Dispute Resolution Chamber has to deal with in relation to unpaid salaries. A leaner league would mean clubs receive an improved allocation from the broadcast and other sponsorship deals.
It will also mean there is less competition when clubs knock on sponsors’ doors. Although it cannot be backed by evidence, the reduction should see more spectators channel their energy towards the fewer fixtures presented by the new scenario.
However, the operation to reduce the teams, should be matched with equal vigour to clean the house at Lekidi Football Centre. There have been justified concerns with the way football is run and that needs to change. It will be counterproductive to only focus on chopping the teams and just like what the hypodermic needle theory envisage, hope that everything will automatically work like clockwork. There is a need for a robust strategy aimed at the operation to reduce the teams.
In short, we hope that proper due diligence has been done and a SWOT analysis carried out. Otherwise it will be foolhardy to imagine that the reduction of teams will be the ultimate magic bullet. You might reduce teams and still remain with an unattractive product where players still struggle to receive their salaries. The authorities should share their blue print on what they hope to achieve with the reduction, as in theory it sounds a very plausible idea.
