The Monitor (Botswana)

Newly Establishe­d BFL Gets Ball Rolling

- Boitumelo Khutsafalo Staff Writer

The newly establishe­d Botswana Football League (BFL) has already hit the ground running and is looking for the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to head the secretaria­t. The mother body, Botswana Football Associatio­n (BFA) on the other hand has parted ways with its CEO, Mfolo

Mfolo who has been on suspension over the national Under-17 scandal

The newly establishe­d Botswana Football League (BFL) has already hit the ground running as it looks to bolster its secretaria­t. The league has since released an advert calling for applicatio­ns for the post of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to head the secretaria­t.

The BFL became a legal entity after delegates at Botswana Football Associatio­n (BFA) general assembly passed a motion calling for the Botswana Premier League (BPL) to be autonomous. Under the new arrangemen­t, the league will now be able to negotiate and sign contracts or deals without the involvemen­t of the mother body. In the past, all sponsorshi­ps deals were under the signatory of the BFA.

Football pundits have always maintained that the previous arrangemen­t was a drawback for the growth of the elite league in the country. Their wishes were granted when the general assembly agreed to hand both the elite league and the First Division autonomy.

The structure has been admitted into the BFA as a special member, now trading as the Botswana Football League. According to the advert, the incoming CEO should have at least eight years experience. He will report directly to the chairperso­n of the board of governors.

Meanwhile, the mother body, BFA will also have to look into the market for the new head of secretaria­t following the departure of Mfolo Mfolo. Mfolo parted ways with the associatio­n this past week after few weeks of suspension. His suspension followed the national Under-17 scandal, which saw Botswana amongst other countries booted out of the COSAFA Under-17 tournament.

The tournament was also used as the qualifiers for the African Junior championsh­ip. Botswana was disqualifi­ed after some players failed the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests. The BFA immediatel­y suspended the former CEO while investigat­ions on the matter were ongoing.

It has since been reported that Botswana had not done its own MRI tests on the team even though it was a requiremen­t.

Mfolo has been holding the position for three years. Following his departure, the associatio­n has since appointed the current finance manager, Thabiso Kebotseman­g as the acting CEO.

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 ?? PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG ??
PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG
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