The Botswana Football Association (BFA) had launched a bidding war for the spot at the COSAFA region qualifiers for the women’s continental club football tournament. The DTCB Top 8 Women’s Championship finalists, Double Action and Mexican Girls went toe-to-toe for the berth and once again Double Action pipped their rivals to the spot.
Speaking to Mmegi Sport, the BFA head of Competitions and Operations, Olebile Sikwane said the clubs were the only two to submit their interests, and Double Action have satisfied all the requirements needed by the First Instance Body (FIB), an organ under BFA responsible for issuing club licenses to play at the tournament.
“The team has been selected on the requirements sent to us by CAF. The BFA secretariat does not play a role, it is the First Instance Body which selects. It has done so, strictly based on the compliance manual by CAF. Double Action met the requirements according to the First Instance Body decision. I only passed to the BFA CEO the decision and the CEO has since submitted it to CAF,” Sikwane said.
The BFA said the club would need to be financially fit to play in the CAF Champions League, as the mother body will not offer any assistance. Double Action will feel that their financial demands have been eased by a P250,000 paycheck from winning the DTCB Top 8 Women's Championships earlier this month.
The team competed in the inaugural COSAFA CAF Women's Champions League qualifiers tournament in 2021. It was a spirited performance from the Gaborone Regional Women’s League champions who were, however, knocked out of the competition by Black Rhino Queens of Zimbabwe.
South African side, Mamelodi Sundowns won the regional qualifiers to book a place at the CAF Women’s championship finals. Sundowns went on to lift the continental cup to become the first ever team to do so. The COSAFA qualifiers will be played soon after the completion of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), which starts on July 2.
