BFA faces enquiries over league return
The Botswana Football League (BFL) transformation committee met this week to discuss the return of the elite league, and have asked the Botswana Football Association (BFA) to provide further guidance. Competitive football is set to return in March after teams went for a year without kicking a ball due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The season is expected to run between March and June, a significant reduction from the normal minimum of 10 months for a local football season.
The purported return, however, presents a very difficult period for elite clubs who will be kicking the ball under the new normal for the first time.
The majority of the clubs have been facing financial struggles, a case which can worsen due to the extra financial burden brought by COVID-19. Amongst other issues, there has been a concern as to how the season will be squeezed within
a three-month period. “We do not know the cost yet. We have asked the BFA to break it down for us. We also do not know the model of play. You are asking questions that we are asking ourselves and the BFA is the only one that can provide the answer. We (clubs) want to know how we are going to go about this. We had a meeting yesterday (Wednesday) and we are expecting an answer from the BFA by tomorrow (Friday),” BFL transformation committee chairperson, Jagdish Shah said yesterday. The recent development
to resume football activities comes after the league transformation committee had called for the 2020-2021 season to be scrapped due to unreadiness.
Currently, the elite league does not have a major sponsor whilst clubs are struggling to keep up with their wage bills. Competitive football was initially scheduled to return in late January with the Orange FA Cup quarterfinals, but was cancelled. However, the BFA successfully held promotional playoffs late last year.