Mpote under scrutiny
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday September 16, 2023 06:00
Despite the lack of results, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) CEO, Mfolo Mfolo said there are no scheduled talks with Mpote. It is relatively early days in Mpote’s reign but the former Orapa United coach could be feeling the pressure. “Obviously, we cannot be happy when the team is not performing well,” Mfolo briefly said when asked if they were content with the situation.
However, he said there was no pending meeting with the coach over the results. 'I am not aware of those possible talks. He is still our senior national team head coach,' Mfolo said. Mpote is almost a year in charge of the Zebras after initially holding fort on an interim basis. The BFA appointed Mpote substantive coach on a three-year deal in November.
Nevertheless, results have been hard to come by, with the senior team failing to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals and falling short in the COSAFA Cup. Mpote was reportedly appointed at the insistence of Minister of Youth, Sport, Gender and Culture, Tumiso Rakgare while the BFA had preferred former Zebras coach, Jelusic Vesellin. Still, there is hope that Mpote will turn the situation around. When he was appointed, Mpote was given four major targets, which were measured against certain weightings.
Mpote would feel relaxed about his situation as the ‘real’ work starts next year. The BFA asked Mpoted to take the Zebras to the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) finals.
The target has a 20% weighting. His second deliverable is to win the 2024 COSAFA Cup, which also carries a 20% weight. The other goal is to take the Zebras to the top 30 in Africa, which also carries 20 marks. Qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final is the other target, and it carries a 40% weight.