Babitseng has said he is worried about the way local football has regressed and is making himself available for the position of the BFA president. “Football has regressed over the last 10 years.
We judge this by the performances of the national teams. When the performance of the national teams goes down, it is down to poor administration,” Babitseng told Mmegi Sport yesterday.
He said a lot of things are not being done well adding that it is the responsibility of the current administration. He said development structures are in tatters and said this leads to the current performances of the national teams. He said FIFA has in recent years channelled development funds to the associations but added that there is nothing to show for local football.
“It seems like we are hell-bent on self-development and have nothing to show for our football. We also used to develop top referees during the time when I was still at the association and the results were there to see. We have to stand up and do what is right for our football,” he said. Babitseng was the first vice president when Tebogo Sebego was the president.
Sebego served only one term before Maclean Letshwiti took over. At the moment it is not yet clear whether the current president will seek a third term. Babitseng has since raised his hand and said he has been watching on the sidelines as local football standards "were going down". He said he is ready to serve from the top given a chance at next year’s elections. Babitseng also touched on the legends of the game who he said deserve much more. He said it is disheartening to see some of the legends being turned into paupers and beggars when they have done so much for football.
He said there should be some kind of structure similar to that of the Players Union, which specifically addresses issues relating to the legends of the game. “Generally we had set the pace and now we have dropped the ball. There is also too much hatred amongst football people and this is worrying. From the way I see it, people are even scared to air their views on the current state of our football,” he said. Babitseng also said he is worried about the policies that appear not to be taking football anywhere. He said the idea of reducing the number of teams in the Premier League is ill-advised.
He is also worried about the recent controversial circular instructing clubs to adhere to new regulations which state that foreign players coming to play in Botswana must have played at least three times for their respective national teams. “Why are we coming up with policies that regress our football?” he asked. The former Extension Gunners chairperson, however, said he is fully behind Botswana’s bid to host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations arguing it will benefit the country.
