There were reports the association had brought the tie forward by a day from June 18. The Zebras clash coincided with the Legends match featuring former Botswana players and their South African counterparts, which was staged in Gaborone. To some extent, the Legends match stole the hype away from the Zebras clash, something that infuriated some fans. Critics accused the association of acting out of gross negligence by scheduling the national team match on the same day as the Zebras Legends clash. Even the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare said the Zebras match was initially scheduled for June 18, but did not know why the fixture was changed to a day earlier. Rakgare himself attracted criticism for snubbing the Zebras in favour of the Legends clash. However, Mfolo said there was never a decision from the association that the match would be played on June 18. He stated that the match was supposed to be on Saturday at 4pm but was moved to 6pm by CAF. “Ordinarily AFCON dates are set by the CAF in line with their television schedule. We can make a proposal but the final decision is with CAF,” Mfolo said.
He added that the BFA never had any engagement with organisers of the Legends match to consider switching the Legends clash to another date. He, however, said both parties have learnt a lesson from the weekend fiasco. “Going forward we will have a proper engagement with coordinators of the Legends clash and other stakeholders to ensure that we avoid instances where their activities clash with that of the association. At the end of the day, football should be the winner,” he said .
