AFCON bid: Was the cart put before the horse?

Mqondisi Dube | Monday November 28, 2022 16:00

The optimism has died down probably due to some harsh realities sink in.

The bid technical committee head, Ashford Mamelodi last week gave a lowdown on the preparations and judging from what he said, it will be a long rough road ahead.

The Minister of Youth, Sport, Gender and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare made a conscious political decision to push for the bid. Things then moved very fast from that point, including announcing a decision to partner with Namibia for the 2027 project.

But one is tempted to ask; was there proper due diligence? Mamelodi gave some sobering facts during his brief to the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) Annual General Meeting.

The country has no venue suitable to host the AFCON finals at it stands. At one stage, only the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium was certified good enough by CAF. Namibia had none.

It will not be far-fetched to say the two countries are certainly punching above their weight. It’s a winnable bid, make no mistake, but mountains will have to be moved.

A budget of gargantuan propositions is needed. It is no child’s play. Why then didn’t the authorities start by a facilities audit as part of the due diligence? What informed the decision to bid for the AFCON finals if it was not based on firm empirical evidence? As previously alluded, Rakgare made a political pronouncement, something that amounts to a wish list. Based on that, there was supposed to be further interrogation of the bid before a concrete decision to officially bid was made. Do I suggest the bid has already failed; not by any means, but the road appears long and narrow. From what Mamelodi said, the country will have to pay an arm and leg to get all facilities up to standard.

This includes building a new stadium in or around Gaborone and also one in Maun. This will not be a cheap undertaking. The technical bid committee probably keeps hitting brick walls along the way, a trial and error approach.

The natural step here appears to have been taken last; a classic case of swallowing before you chew. Will I be surprised if along the way the bid is abandoned? Definitely no. It will appear the bid was hastened for political expediency without, particularly, economic considerations. It will be refreshing to have Botswana and Namibia co-host a tournament that has been the preserve of the north and west parts of the continent. However, it should not be through short-circuiting the system.

There is the COSAFA Cup and other lesser tournaments that could be used to test the hosting waters. The AFCON finals appear a bridge too far at this stage, judging by what the person carrying the diagnosis machine said. One might argue that poorer nations like Burkina Faso have hosted the competition before but I guess even before they made the announcement, they first audited their ability to organise the tournament. You do not announce and then do the audit after otherwise you risk an embarrassing climb down.

On the flip-side, people are earning money and tenders are being awarded from the ongoing exercise. So it’s not all gloom and doom. But clearly, the cart has been put before the horse and that might come back to haunt the bid effort.