12 Apr 2023

Dubbed Clash of the Legends, a memorable footballing spectacle is set to bring former football luminaries from Botswana and South Africa national teams head to head in a match billed for June 17.

Zebras and Bafana Bafana players from yesteryears will re-live moments of the past at Royal Aria Stadium in Tlokweng.

The main objective would be to bring the former players back to light and provide an opportunity to explore ways in which they could be assisted.

Former Zebras midfielder, Sekhana ‘Nandos’ Koko explained during a press conference yesterday that the Zebras squad would comprise inactive former players from the 2012 AFCON squad.

He said life often became difficult for soccer legends after the end of their playing career, hence the need for interventions to assist them.

Koko thus made an appeal to the corporate world to come on-board and assist the former players, some of whom he said were struggling in life.

“Some of those living with injuries from their days in the squad will be part of us though they will not be playing,” he said, explaining that such players would be attending as beneficiaries of curtain-raisers that would precede the main match.

Prior to the legends game, there will be a matches to raise funds for those injured during their days with the national team, among them, Moemedi ‘Jomo’ Moatlhaping, Boitumelo ‘Twizzer’ Ramohibidu and Malepa Bolelang.

The fund-raising matches will pit six teams from Gaborone and surrounding areas, one against the other in a series of games that will see United Artistes face Ga Inoswa, followed by a game between Masfina and Monate while Swaggerboys will play PV Monko in the last social match game.

South African legend, Jabu ‘Shuffle’ Mahlangu said players usually go through a lot after their careers, adding Botswana and South Africa former players suffered this calamity of a life fraught with suffering.

“When you go through the difficulties that our former players often go through, you might find yourself abusing your wife, or not taking care of your family,” he said, highlighting how being ill-equipped to deal with life after footballing careers could generally disrupt their lives.

He some problems arose once players’ careers came to a close, with some former players going bankrupt while others fell into depression.

Threfore, Mahlangu said he was hopeful that the event organisers would engage players from major football teams in an endeavour to equip them with knowledge as well as to allow them to benefit from the experiences of the legends so that they could avoid becoming victim of the same pitfalls.

He said there was a need for the legends to share knowledge with those whose footballing careers were still in swing, adding that the Clash of Legends game would not only help encourage growth in both former and current players but would also help build a crop of better role models.

For his part, Botswana Football Association (BFA) technical director, Tshepo Mphukuthi, said the input of the football legends in the football administration was of great necessity and regretted that their contribution to the local game remained minimal.

“As BFA, we do not know where our legends are, we don’t know where to find them,” he regretted,Mphukuthi encouraged the legends to use the game as a platform for them to organise themselves into a forum, which he said the BFA would be willing to work with for the general good of the code.

Tickets for the game will go on sale from May 1.ENDS