05 Feb 2023

The vacant post of the chief executive officer within Botswana Football League (BFL) will soon be filled by a South African on a one-year contract.

Speaking at a press briefing on Friday, the league’s chairperson, Nicholas Zakhem said the prospective CEO had experience with different clubs, adding that Botswana Football Association (BFA) was in a position to help the league regarding his wages.

Zakhem also announced that the organisation would attach a local who would be learning the ropes, so to take over once the South African’s one-year contract expires.

On other issues, Zakhem said the BFL secretariat had been doing a good job given that the league started well and it was currently running smoothly with all the logistics in place, on time and in line with the rules.

“So far, we have been enjoying a very pleasant football season, both on and off the pitch as well as the performance of the teams and respecting the law of the game is the order of the day,” he said.

Zakhem said the league was expected to end on June 10, and the target was to play the Orange FA Cup final on June 17.

Talking about the Top 8, Zakhem said they were soliciting a sponsor for the tournament, adding that the board was cognizant of the fact that football supporters loved the tournament, hence they were doing all they could to secure a sponsor.

For his part, BFL treasurer, Jagdish Shah said he was happy that they managed to pay all the debts, and that none of their stakeholders had lodged a complaint regarding late payment.

Furthermore, he said they managed to negotiate with one company to come on board as the Premier League sponsor.

Shah further said the sponsor would give them at least P1.7 million, adding that once the deal had been finalised they would communicate with the football constituents.

In that regard, he said after consolidating their expenses and cash in at the end the BPL, they would have P4 million, which could be given to the teams as price money on grants.

“We had an internal discussion with the BFL management and we looked at the pros and cons.

We both agreed that P4 million will be used as price money,” he said. Ends