As part of its vision to one day win the AFCON cup, Botswana is developing grassroot football structures that will produce the Sadio Manes or Didier Drogbas of the future.
Armed with such a vision and buoyed by the respectable performance by the Zebras during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament held in Gabon, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) has set its sight on laying the groundwork for the future of the game in the southern African country.
BFA has joined forces with United Kingdom-based INEOS Chemicals to build strong football development structures across the country.
The two organisations have signed an agreement to nurture the talent of up-and-coming footballers from all the country’s provinces, including those who would otherwise not be spotted by conventional football scouts.
As part of the association’s efforts to turn around the fortunes of local football, BFA president, Mclean Letshwiti, launched an ambitious project aimed at developing football at grassroots level, earlier this week.
The project will be financed by British billionaire financier and industrialist James Ratcliffe through his INEOS Chemical Company.
The academy will be run by INEOS, who will bring in experts to carry out the football development process.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Letshwiti said for two years, BFA and INEOS have had engagements for the construction of the academy and the signing of the agreement brings the association’s dream closer to reality.
INEOS is a soccer academy that gives an opportunity for young soccer players in Africa to develop, allowing the best players a chance to be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, where they would be required to complete a further two years of training and education with a chance at professional football.
BFA chief executive, Mfolo Mfolo, revealed that the government had availed a piece of land to the association to build a multimillion-dollar football academy.
“We are very optimistic as the BFA that this development will help us close the gap between us and the rest of the world,” Mfolo said.
He notes that “having visited and seen some of the facilities in Europe, I can state that the facility we will have here will be on par or at times better that those in Europe.”
“This can only bode well for the country,” the official said.
According to INEOS Football SA chief executive David Thompson, his company is keen on the Botswana project.
“We are grateful and looking forward to having an academy in Botswana,” Thompson said.
– APA
