Gaborone — May 17 will forever be engraved in the hearts of local football lovers as winds of change blew in the direction of Botswana in respect to leading football in the Southern Africa region.
The ushering in, unopposed, of the Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, Tariq Babitseng to the top seat of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) sent a clear message that the region believes in him.
Further to that, Babitseng re-wrote history as the second Motswana to ever lead COSAFA after the late Ismail Bhamjee, who was the inaugural COSAFA president and was at the helm of the organisation from 1992-2000.
Known for his subtle art of leadership, it is expected that the new president will drive robust grassroots development in the region.
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Addressing a press briefing on Tuesday, Babitseng said he would not relinquish his position as BFA president, but made an assurance that he would make sure that both positions received the attention that they required.
He said since the inception of COSAFA in 1992, the organisation had always been divided, but on Sunday during the elective congress, unity prevailed as evidenced by the unanimous voice of members during the elections.
Babitseng said a decision was made before the election to look among members of the leadership who were in attendance as to who would be best suited to steer the organisation and that it was then that he was identified as ideal for the presidency role.
He said his election has demonstrated to the African continent that COSAFA, the biggest zone in Africa, was indeed united, and added that as leadership, they would ensure that going forward, that same spirit of oneness prevailed.
Zooming in on the work ahead, the COSAFA president said there was need to restructure and re-organise their tournaments as well as the development structure.
"As the new leadership, we have agreed that what we have been seeing in past years where countries would send development teams to COSAFA senior tournaments has to end," he said.
Babitseng said the COSAFA tournament would be aligned with the FIFA calendar so that countries could send proper national teams, which he said would help make the tournament competitive.
Furthermore, Babitseng said the organisation's headquarters would remain in South Africa, adding that it would be now based in Sandton where it would also house CAF and FIFA office.
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