BONGANI MALUNGA
The Mascom Top 8 will remain the standard measure for Botswana’s CAF Confederation Cup participants. This puts paid to speculation that the return of the FA Cup (now named Orange FA Cup) might see the country revert to it as the decider of who enters the coveted African continent’s club competition.
What this means is that Orapa United, who won this season’s Mascom Top 8 competition, will represent Botswana at the 2020/21 CAF Confederation Cup. This season’s participants were Jwaneng Galaxy. The Secretary General of the BFA, Mfolo Mfolo, has confirmed that so far there are no immediate plans to change the setup.
“The National Executive Committee is yet to make a final decision about that but for now there is no immediate need to change,” Mfolo told Gazette Sport. “We will be keeping things as they are with the Mascom Top 8 competition as the CAF Confederation Cup qualifier for Botswana clubs. If any changes are effected, we will communicate.”
For many years, the FA Cup (previously the Coca Cola Cup) was used as a CAF Confederation Cup qualifier. The competition then went into a hiatus that stretched for six years due to the absence of a sponsor. During the FA Cup’s absence, Mascom Top 8 became the country’s only major football competition and was eventually given the thumbs up as a qualifying tournament for the CAF Confederation Cup.