BFA equally concerned about Zebras slide
The Botswana Football Association (BFA) has said the slide in Zebras’ rankings, which has seen the team placed in the bottom 10 nations in Africa, is concerning. BFA chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo said they cannot pretend as if they are content with the situation. The Zebras are now placed 45th out of 54 countries in Africa due to a combination of inactivity and results.
The team reached its best ever position in the world in 2010 at number 53, but has seen a change in fortunes over the years. Since then the national team has been above 100 in the world except for a bright period in 2015 when the Zebras rose to number 86 in the world.
In an interview, Mfolo said there are plans in place to address the Zebras’ plight.
“The Zebras is our intellectual property and we should be worried like any other Motswana. We have to plan and prepare better. With the Mares, there was a plan and the results came quicker,” Mfolo said.
The Mares qualified for their first ever Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals last year after
the BFA sent the team to a training camp in Slo- vakia as well as fielding an Under-20 side at the
COSAFA Cup. “We need to ask ourselves if we invested enough in the team after 2012 (when the Zebras qualified for the AFCON finals). The answer for me lies with grassroots development. I have always said preparedness before competition is also important,” Mfolo said.
He said on paper, the Zebras are stronger than sides like Eswatini and Lesotho which are however, ranked above Botswana in the FIFA rankings. “This shows that they have invested in the team. If we have done some investment, we could match some of the teams,” he said.
Mfolo said their plan is to develop the current Under-17 team, which participated at the Region 5 Games in Malawi in December.
“Our project is the Under-17 team. We see a lot of potential. We will improve the Centres of Excellence and the idea is to keep the team at the Centre of Excellence in Mogoditshane,” Mfolo said. He said the BFA will soon start a youth league, which the national Under-17 team will be part of. “This is the immediate plan. We also want to expand the Centres of Excellence to Tsabong. We cannot say we are not worried and we should be seen to be doing something,” he added. The BFA recently appointed Mogomotsi ‘Teenage’ Mpote as the Zebras coach with set goals including qualifying for the 2025 AFCON finals and winning the COSAFA Cup.