Ostriches undecided on the CAF invite
Debswana backed Orapa United is yet to decide on participating in the CAF Confederations Cup. The Mascom Top 8 Champions were offered the CAF spot by the Botswana Football Association (BFA) since the FA Cup is yet to be concluded due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Just recently the team released a statement citing that they have received a request to participate in the CAF Confederations cup competition, however, the club is still consulting and engaging with relevant stakeholders.
Further, the press release indicated that the team will soon notify the supporters of their decision to whether compete in the continental showpiece or not. In an interview this week, club mouthpiece, Kabo William said there is a lot to consider before they take the decision. William said they cannot just jump at the decision without mulling over it. “It’s a big decision to make, we have to make a decision looking at the financial implications and also taking into consideration the health of our players.”
He said they are still trying to discover if the expenses of testing players will be carried out by the club or if CAF and the BFA will assist them with the testing kits. “We are yet to find out who will bear the cost of testing players before the games,” he said.
Another issue that the Ostriches have put a microscope over is that of player’s fitness, William stressed that their players haven’t touched the ball in nearly seven months while the CAF competitions will resume in two months’ time.
“We have to know if our team will be ready to compete in the next couple of months or it will take us many months to get the boys in shape and compete in Africa. These are the things we are going to consider before making our decision and we are going to make the decision soon.”
On the other hand, the club is on early stages of commercialisation and the progress will soon be shared with the public. The club is yet to hold its elective annual assembly due to the Covid-19 associated restrictions.