11 Sep 2024

Botswana Football Association (BFA) delegates will be spoilt for choice on who to vote for at the  elective general assembly in Palapye on Saturday. 

Three football heavyweights, the incumbent president Maclean Letshwiti, incumbent vice president Masego Nchingane, and former vice president Tariq Babitseng, are up for the BFA presidential posts. 

The trio have extensive experience in football administration and have all served in the BFA national executive committee. In assessing the candidates, BOPA reporter engaged Sunday Standard sport editor, Botlhale Koothupile, and this is what he said. 

Letshwiti has been the face of the BFA and to an extent structured football in the country for the last eight years. 

The only fairest way to judge him, he said should be on the basis of what he had or had not achieved in the said period. He said this was, however, unfair to the other two competitors, as they have not had the same opportunity. 

“So, there is no telling what they could have done had they been in the same privileged position as him. Before we get to that, if we compare him to the other two competitors, as an older statesman, he naturally possesses a certain aura, which comes with age and stature. 

He cuts a figure of a dignified man, but that is, however, a debatable concept,” he said. Koothopile said while Letshwiti came into football as a man with no football political baggage, he failed to unite football. “If anything, football is as fragmented as ever before under his reign. This has led to accusations pointed at him,” he said. 

He said in terms of his core mandate of developing football, this was a mixed bag of results, adding that he had done a lot in terms of grassroots football development, women football and coaches’ development. 

On Nchingane, he said like Letshwiti, he had been in the National Executive Committee for the past eight years. 

“He came into the NEC in 2016 as an ordinary member under Team Sebego. He later became Letshwiti’s protégé, with it being publicly known that he was being groomed to lead the association in future. 

In that period in the BFA NEC, he later became the association’s second vice president and he is currently the first vice president. 

He said while he may not have the same aura that comes with age compared to Letshwiti, Nchigane has the exuberance of youth to inject some energy into the post. 

“He comes across as a humble yet very smart man. Unlike many of his peers who are former national team players, Nchingane has many accomplishments to his name. He managed to pursue academics and still have a career in football. That shows leadership. 

He is now a businessman, a football administrator and a BFA NEC member. Whatever the BFA under Letshwiti achieved in the past eight years, Nchingane is part of that,” he said. 

Koothopile said as the BFA president’s protégé, it is only right to assume that he has learnt a lot under him, adding as a former player, his approach to the BFA presidency, if he gets the office, should be player-centric. 

He said it was evident that he would want the players to be at the centre of the game, adding that of interest, he preaches creating a value chain in football and an environment where regional football associations were self-sustainable. 

“Nchingane’s blemish, if any, can be that he was a part of the Letshwiti reign. 

Whatever negatives happened under Letshwiti, he cannot be completely exonerated. Until he raised his hand to go against Letshwiti for the BFA presidency, he is, therefore, in my view, an accomplice in whatever went wrong under Letshwiti’s reign,” he said. 

Talking about Babitseng, he said: “What can we say? The man, the myth, the legend! Babitseng is a complex person to truly analyse. He has no football playing background, but he has a very strong and extensive football administration background.”

Like Nchingane, he said if voted into office, Babitseng would inject some youthful energy into the office. 

“He is an intelligent yet humble young man who has over the years proven his tenacity, both as a businessman and a persecuted football administrator,” he said. 

Koothopile said despite being the target of unwarranted persecutions in football, he has not only survived but has managed to stay a step ahead of his persecutors. 

“That on its own is a symbol of a capable and calculating young leader. Babitseng’s administration career has seen him become the chairman of Masitaoka Football Club before ascending to become the Chairperson of the First Division South League Committee,” he said. 

Koothopile said Babitseng was often credited with setting the foundations, which had made the First Division South league a success, adding that after that, he had a stint as an acting BFA chief executive officer before he was voted to become the association’s vice president administration under Tebogo Sebego in 2014. 

He said during the period he was in the BFA, he showed himself as a shrewd businessman and negotiator, adding he was the go-to person for Sebego when the BFA was negotiating any sponsorship.

 Furthermore, he said he was the man credited with negotiating the sponsorship of coach Peter Butler’s vehicle, which the latter used extensively for travelling and unearthing new talent. 

In that regard, Koothopile said it was not surprising that his campaign was based on attracting new partners and finding resources to develop infrastructure across the country, explaining these as a necessity to develop and grow football from grassroots to professional level. 

“His career has, however, been marred by allegations of misappropriation of funds, which to this day are yet to be proved. These allegations have carved him an undeserved bad reputation, which persists even though he has never been found guilty of any wrong doing,” he said. Ends