BFA’s unfulfilled CAF licence promises
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday August 20, 2022 06:00
Letsoaka, who had just signed a three-year contract, promised to alleviate the shortage of qualified local coaches. At the time, Botswana had only three CAF A licence holders in Philemon Makwengwe, Ben Kgomela, and Losika ‘Six’ Keatlholetswe.
The country had no Pro-Licence holders then. Four years later, the status quo remains; still three CAF A licence holders and no local coach with a Pro-Licence. Letsoaka expressed his concern that Botswana had only three CAF A licence holders while no one has the Pro-Licence.
He promised to turn around the situation, and then BFA's first vice president, Marshlow Motlogelwa said there was a commitment from concerned stakeholders to ensure the success of coach education.
Letsoaka promised to train 24 Pro-Licence and 210 CAF A licence holders by 2020. 'Under coach education, we will have accreditation of coaches. If you want good students, you must have good coaches,” Letsoaka said then. 'We are going to see a lot of academies around the country. Of course, these will be regulated and will work on the regulatory framework before the end of the year,” he added.
Two years have passed, with the target far from being achieved. Letsoaka long left for a lucrative CAF job and the country is still languishing in a precarious position.
The absence of CAF A licence holders has presented a predicament, particularly for clubs participating in the Champions League and Confederations Cup. Last season, Orapa United was forced to hire Makwengwe to sit on the bench, as their coach, Mogomotsi ‘Teenage’ Mpote did not have the requisite qualifications.
Gaborone United has faced a similar predicament and had to fish for Kgomela to fulfill CAF’s requirements as they embark on their Champions League campaign. BFA chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo, however, said the association is looking at addressing the challenge. “We have been approved to conduct CAF A licence training.
We have since made an application to CAF, which they will send their experts to assess our readiness. Twenty-five will be trained at that level with five of them trained as instructors. So the milestone of up skilling the coaches is almost completed,” Mfolo said.