The move came as a shock, as a few weeks ago, the association created the impression that Mpote would remain as coach despite the team’s failure to qualify for the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations. “I saw it coming.
There was a time when someone at the association came to me and intimated that someone would be brought in to work with me. I was appalled by the statement. Then, we were on a camp in South Africa.
After a few days, a South African coach came to our camp. I suspected that he was the person who the association wanted to bring in to work with me. That never materialised for reasons I do not know.
That is when I realised that there was a problem,” Mpote said. He added that some officials at Lekidi interfered with his job and he did not have enough support. “A lot of teams wanted to play us because they were impressed with the transformation of my team. The answer I always got from the association when I wanted friendlies was that there was no money.
Even the recent friendly we played against Eswatini materialised because of the good relationship I have with their coach,” Mpote said. When he was appointed, Mpote was given the target to qualify for the 2024 Africa Nations Championships (CHAN) finals. The target had a 20% weighting. His second deliverable was to win the 2024 COSAFA Cup, which also carried a 20% weight.
The other target was to take the Zebras to the top 30 in Africa. The target was also allocated 20 marks. Qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals was the main target, and it had a 40% weighting. However, Mpote said he was later given another assignment, which was not part of his contract. “I was later told to start building a team for the 2027 AFCON finals. That stunned me.
This meant that I could not call the players I wanted to accomplish my official mandate. I had to bring young players to build for 2027 which was totally against my Key Performance Indicators. At one point was told I will not be funded if I don’t call players for 2027,” he said. Mpote has in recent months been accused of calling inexperienced players to the national team.
His other argument is that he could not take the team to the top 30 in Africa because his focus had shifted towards transforming the team for 2027. There is speculation that the idea to build a team for 2027 was mooted after Botswana launched a bid to host the 2027 tournament. Botswana lost the bid last month. There have also been suggestions that Mpote could take the association to court because he was sacked before he could begin his key mandate. But he maintains that he would not go the legal route.
“I do not have any hard feelings. I just want to be paid what is due to me. I intend to go back to club football soon. I am also willing to explore other opportunities that will be availed to me,” he said. Mpote was appointed substantive coach last November and his contract was still left with two years to run, until 2025. Prior to that, he acted as interim Zebras coach having taken over from Adel Amrouche who also left his job under unceremonious circumstances in 2021.
