BONGANI MALUNGA
The Botswana Football Association’s National Executive Committee (NEC) is set to meet in April to finally decide the country’s CAF Confederation slot. For the last few years the Mascom Top 8 champions have been the country’s representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup but the return of the FA Challenge Cup in the form of the Orange FA Cup has caused a ‘headache’ for the association.
In the past and (still to this day) in every country in Africa, the FA Cup was the main competition recognized by CAF as the determining contest for a Confederation Cup slot. When the FA Cup was discontinued in 2012, this left a void and the Mascom Top 8 duly filled the spot and they have done so for the past six years. The Mascom Top 8 offered a great platform for the likes of Orapa United and Jwaneng Galaxy to make their continental debuts in recent years.
According to BFA CEO Mfolo Mfolo the NEC will make a determination on the CAF Confederation Cup slot in April and stated that no decision has been made ever since the unofficial talks about the topic began months ago.
“That matter will be determined by the NEC in April, they will have to choose between the two competitions. The matter is silent in contractual terms, there was nothing prescribed when the Coke Cup ended but Mascom did a great job by stepping in and filling that void. Now that the FA Cup is back the discussion will be on the table, no formal communication will be made until the NEC maps the way forward,” Mfolo told Gazette Sport.
In South Africa the third spot on the log and the Nedbank Cup determine the slots given to the country in the CAF Confederation Cup. The country has three main cup competitions including the aforementioned Nedbank Cup, the MTN 8 Cup and the Telkom Knockout Cup.