Reports reaching Mmegi Sport are that the players and the technical are still awaiting their allowances to be credited by the Botswana Football Association (BFA).
The Young Zebras took on Eswatini in the preliminary round of the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers. They were eliminated by their fellow COSAFA rivals on a 3-2 aggregate score.
The Young Zebras had lost 2-0 away to Eswatini before winning the return leg 2-1 at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium just a week later. Just over two months later, the Under-23s are reportedly yet to receive their allowances.
A source within the camp has said both the playing and technical team allowances were initially withheld as players and members of the technical team were told to return the kits first.
However, after they met the BFA, the association is yet to give the Under-23 a reason why their allowances remain withheld. The source told Mmegi Sport that the members were told to seek answers from the team manager and who according to the source could also not shed more light on the matter. “We got out of camp around September 27.
From then we were told we will receive our allowances and to date, we are yet to receive anything. It’s been two months and a half now and there is no communication as to why we are yet to receive our money. From the beginning, we were told that there were people who were yet to return the kits. So we thought they should withhold the allowances of those people and pay the rest.” “The kits were returned but there is no money. We were told that the money is there because they could not credit the money because the kits were not returned.
We were just told that we will be paid but we were not given a time frame and we were not given a reason why our allowances are not paid. There are players who play in regional football and are not getting paid, so they could use this money to uplift their lives. We believe that the Sports Commission has credited the money to the BFA and it may have been used for other things.
What is also upsetting is that we got in camp before the Under-20 and the senior team but a week later they received their allowances,” the source said. The informer further said the services provider of transport, catering and accommodation may also have not received their payments.
Responding to the media inquiry on the matter, BFA CEO Mfolo Mfolo said he is not aware of any issue relating to the players' and technical team's allowances. "I do not know anything about the players' allowances," he said. The Under-23s will wait until 2023 to receive their allowances as the BFA has closed for business this year. The allowances amount to P2,250 each.
