The previous administration had become a thorn in Rakgare's flesh and gave him a torrid time. There were moments when he appeared to be losing the war but the change which ushered in Tariq Babitseng came as a huge sigh of relief for Rakgare. It is in the public domain that Rakgare would have preferred Masego Ntshingane as president with the likes of Phazha Butale in the national executive committee at Lekidi, but he obviously sees Tariq as a better devil than Maclean Letshwiti. This was evident when Babitseng had already walked through the minister's door, barely 48 hours after his election.
A hastily arranged press briefing soon followed in a clear show of solidarity between the two. But while mending relations with the leadership of the country's most followed sport should be top of Rakgare's priorities, he must not forget that there are dozen other codes out there that need similar attention. While football was changing its head, it was business as usual at another problem child, karate. The karate problems have rumbled on for much of the past two years, but little attention has been paid by authorities. It would be refreshing to see Rakgare put as much energy, and a public show in reigning in all the errant codes. It is not just football. It is only that football is constantly under 24 hour public surveillance. But sport across is suffering from leadership or rather, governance issues. Almost all 40 codes under the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) have this or that challenge.
