BFA to appoint full-time Mares coach

FRANCISTOWN: The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has said it intends to appoint a substantive head coach for the women’s national team, Mares, soon. For years, the Mares have not had a substantive coach.

Coaches work voluntarily, something which many pundits believe delays the progress of the team.

Mares coach Gaolethoo ‘Ronaldo’ Nkutlwisang last week said working as a volunteer impedes the progress of the team.

She said as a volunteer, due to limited resources, she could not travel around the country to look for talent. This week, the BFA chief executive officer (CEO) Goabaone Taylor said having a substantive national team coach is high on the association’s agenda. “A proposal has been made to the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) to have a permanent coach for the senior women’s team, as part of the reorganisation that the association will soon be going through,” Taylor told Mmegi Sport this week.

The CEO said she is very optimistic that the BFA NEC will rubber-stamp the proposal to have a substantive women’s national team coach.

Taylor did not offer a time frame for the appointment but said it was a priority. The BFA will soon undergo a restructuring exercise that is meant to boost the efficiency of the organisation.

Plans to restructure the organisation have been on hold for more than a year because of the State of Public Emergency (SoE). Meanwhile, Taylor told Mmegi Sport that the senior men’s national team, the Zebras, have been invited several friendlies during the mid-October international break.

However, Taylor would not be drawn into revealing the names of the countries that have proposed friendlies with the national team or any details surrounding the proposals. “We are still assessing the proposals. The association will issue a statement in relation to the friendly proposals it has received, at the right time,” she said. The Zebras were last in action in July this year at the COSAFA Cup in South Africa.

The association did not organise a friendly for the team during the international break early this month. Despite not playing, the Zebras improved in the FIFA rankings for September. The team moved to position 147 from 149. The Zebras are still without a coach after Adel Amrouche left in July. Taylor has said that the appointment of the new coach will be made later this year or early 2022.