The BFA President, Mr. Maclean Letshwiti and his Secretary General, Mr. Kagiso Kemoeng, have just returned from Cairo, Egypt, where they attended the CAF Extra-Ordinary General Assembly on Thursday 29th September 2016.
The highlights of the Extra-Ordinary General Assembly were the election of two African Additional Members to the FIFA Council for the transitory period from 30th September 2016 to March 2017; where Messrs. Almamy Kebele Camara (the 2nd Vice President of CAF) of the Republic of Guinea and Kwesi Nyantakyi (CAF Executive Committee Member and President of Ghana Football Association) were elected with an absolute majority at first attempt ahead of their competitors, Messrs. Ahmad (CAF Executive Committee Member and President of the Madagascar Football Federation) and Augustine Senghor (President of Senegal Football Federation). Three other candidate withdrew, among them the current CAF 1st Vice President and President of COSAFA Mr. Suketu Patel of Seychelles. The other highlight was the adoption of a proposal for amendments of CAF Statutes, Regulations governing the Application of CAF Statutes and Rules and Procedure of the CAF General Assembly; all in the spirit of aligning them with the recent changes to the FIFA Statutes and Reforms.
A motion by Djibouti to have the criteria for electing the President of CAF reviewed was rejected by members. The motion sought to elect the CAF President only from people who have “…played an active role in football as an official of a member association, during four of the last five years preceding the submission of a candidacy…”.
At the beginning of the meeting, Botswana was honoured with an appointment into a four-person committee of scrutineers alongside Mauritania, Gambia and Tunisia; with the BFA Secretary General part of this team that facilitated all matters that needed a vote, including the election of the two African Additional Members into the FIFA Council.
On the sidelines of the General Assembly, the President and the Secretary General engaged with other stakeholders and their counterparts to progress the growth and development of football in Botswana, the most prominent of which was an international company that is keen to invest on a football academy in Botswana and linking it to an international academy that they host in Switzerland. Further engagements on this matter shall be in the form of a visit by the company to Botswana to have a first-hand appreciation of the BFA’s and the country’s football vision. As part of the visit, the company intends to also hold meetings with the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and other relevant stakeholders to appreciate their (stakeholders) role in the establishment of a fully-fledged football academy in the country.
As this was the current Botswana delegation’s first CAF General Assembly, the delegation embarked on a variety of meetings with their counterparts to have a full feel of issues at various international structures including, but not limited to Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA), CAF and FIFA. The delegation also separately met key officials of these bodies to appreciate how Botswana could optimally benefit from their various programmes to enhance the development and growth of football in Botswana. Following an engagement with the FIFA President, Mr. Gianni Infantino and his newly appointed Secretary General, Ms. Fatima Samoura, the Botswana delegation was invited to visit the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, for further engagements and a more detailed induction on FIFA programmes and projects for the benefit of Botswana football.
The Botswana delegation noted with appreciation that the Zebras beat Angola on penalties as part of Botswana’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations.
