Zakhem accepts Letshwiti’s BFL bashing
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday October 15, 2022 06:00
Letshwiti had no kind words for the BFL, which obtained full autonomy in 2020, during the organ’s inaugural General Assembly in Gaborone on Saturday. The BFA president, who was the guest speaker, took the opportunity to tear into the BFL. Letshwiti said if the state of affairs persisted, the BFA could be forced to take over the running of the BFL.
The Premier League has for long been under the ambit of the BFA until a recent decision to grant the organ autonomy. However, the BFL has found the going tough, with sponsors hard to come by while the issue of Club Licensing has been the constant Achilles Heel. Only last month, the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) had to intervene after the First Instance Body (FIB) had denied five clubs licences. It was the same last season when a similar number of clubs failed to get a license resulting in the authorities exercising leniency through the granting of provisional licences.
There was the protracted Onkarabile Ratanang saga, which dragged football’s image in the mud, following the Township Rollers player’s disputed registration. Letshwiti is therefore unimpressed with the management of the BFL. “You cannot lose sponsors and blame BFA. As we speak, the BFA still has all its sponsors being Orange and the First Division sponsors. It is you the BFL who are losing sponsors. And if you do not want us (BFA) to intervene, you must do something. If you are not going to do anything about it, the BFA will ask you to go back and run your clubs and we will take over the transformation process of the BFL,” he said. In an interview with Mmegi Sport this week, Zakhem accepted the criticism and said particularly, clubs could do better. “I’ve to be frank with you that his concern is in place. We can’t have every year, four or five teams not managing to obtain a licence and we are talking elite league here. Members have to comply as they have accepted after lengthy demand to have autonomy,” Zakhem said.
He admitted that the BFL transformation has rather been slow but said COVID-19 has had an impact, particularly on sponsorships. “The BFL is running at a slow pace, as you need all teams to be fully functional and have the minimum required funds to be able to sustain a positive league. Bear in mind that the BFL only gained autonomy in 2020 during the COVID era when everything came to a halt and companies are starting their recovery as we speak,” Zakhem said.
He, however, said there is no need for BFA to take the BFL back under the mother body’s wing. “(There is) no need for BFA to come and take over but rather to assist in various domains, like provide technical back up, financial assistance, and lastly to help in our daily administration,” he said. The league competition is due to start on October 22 and for the second season running, there will be no title sponsor.