FRANCISTOWN: Cameroonian striker, Calvin Adong Adong Pascal,who was recruited by TAFIC when the second round of the beMobile league started, will have to wait a little longer before he can play for the club after the Botswana Football Association (BFA) delayed his registration.The BFA refused to register the player on the grounds that a foreign player cannot be registered when the league is less than eight games to completion, TAFIC coach Dominic Changwe told Gazette Sport in an interview.
When the second round started, the Francistown based club recruited three foreign players to beef up their squad; however it only managed to register two: Livinus Eze Innocent and Abbu Ouappara. But Changwe is optimistic that Pascal will be playing next season; he described him as one of the most competitive players on the field.Changwe said when he arrived at TAFIC most of the players were still raw; bringing foreigners who have experience will strengthen his team, he declared. “I want to build a strong team that will be competitive next season and I am optimistic that Pascal will be helpful and add value to the squad,” he promised.
Insiders however say the delay was deliberate because the Cameroonian is not premier league material. Changwe begs to differ. “It is up to me to decide what kind of players to bring into the team because I am in charge; as far as I know the BFA said we cannot register a player when there are less than eight games to play,” the coach insisted.Reached for comment, BFA Regional Competition Offi cer, Stephen Maleka, said the registration of foreign players is governed by BFA rules: If a player comes from a professional side, this must be indicated and all his details provided. On the other hand if he is an amateur, the system will reject him because no details will have been provided; the delay might have been caused by the fact that the player hailed from an amateur league,” Maleka explained.