Ostriches take CAF dip
PALAPYE: Orapa United have confirmed they would participate in the next CAF Confederations Cup after their sponsor gave the green light, club spokesperson Kabo William has revealed.
The Ostriches qualified for the competition after winning the Mascom Top 8 last season. It would be the second time United participate in the African showpiece after their debut appearance in 2017.
Their endeavour to conquer Africa was, however, cut short by Mbabane Swallows of Swaziland who knocked them out in the first round of the competition.
After much engagement with the Botswana Football Association (BFA), the Ostriches have decided to try their luck again.
William said Debswana Mining Company has pledged to support them with all logistic costs in the competition. He said the budget was yet to be drawn as they await the competition schedules and further engagements surrounding the pandemic protocols.
“We have been in a series of engagements with the association about the competition, and once they cleared our concerns we took it with our sponsor, and they pledged to support our journey in the Confederations Cup,” he said.
He said they had learnt lessons from their previous outing in the competition and they intend to bolster their squad ahead of their CAF journey. The 18th edition of Africa’s secondary club football tournament is scheduled to resume in November.
William said they have a full squad, although some contracts were still under negotiations. He expects that they would release some players to create space for new signings.
He said the opening of the local transfer window in January might present challenges to their continental assignment.
“It would present a problem for us going into such a difficult competition, but we have raised the issue with the association, and we will see what transpires after the general assembly.”
He, however, believes they have enough players with international experience who can lead the club to the group stages. He believes the pandemic situation could also provide a better opportunity to reach group stages.
“We envision it is going to be a challenge for several clubs continent-wide and we intend to prepare very well so we can take full advantage when the opportunity presents.”
Meanwhile, William said they had taken all their players to Orapa and took them through a coronavirus (COVID-19) test.
He said following the recent pandemic scare in the diamond mining town, the squad underwent another COVID-19 test and then after were brought into camp. “We are in camp, we felt compelled to have all our players together to avoid eventualities with the way the pandemic is spreading. We are ready to resume preparations as soon as we get a go-ahead from the association,” he said.