After years of delays, the Botswana Football Association is preparing to launch its long-awaited football academy, with trials for Standard 7 graduates scheduled ahead of a January 2027 opening.
The academy will receive up to P2.76 million in support from FIFA as the association works to establish a structured pathway for identifying and developing the country’s most promising young players. The recruitment drive represents a renewed effort to get the programme running after accommodation problems derailed an earlier launch.
Speaking to WeekendSport this week, Bathusi Rathari, the BFA’s acting chief executive, said the academy should have begun around 2020. The project forms part of FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme, an initiative designed to help member associations improve the way they identify and develop young players.
Rathari said the scheme was created after a Technical Study Group reviewed the 2018 World Cup in Russia. One of its findings was that the same countries continued to qualify for the tournament, prompting FIFA to examine how other nations could accelerate the development of their football talent.
He said Arsène Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, had also acknowledged that African countries faced different challenges and that development programmes needed to reflect those circumstances if the continent was to narrow the gap with the world’s leading football nations.
“This came from the Technical Study Group, which assessed the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia,” Rathari said. “One of its key findings was that the countries that normally qualify for the World Cup are usually the same ones.”
FIFA subsequently created the Talent Development Scheme, under which each member association is expected to establish its own programme for developing young players.
The BFA’s model is intended to place selected children in a structured environment where they can train, attend school and receive sustained support. “The aim is for the children who are selected to stay in one place and attend the same school,” Rathari said.
For Botswana, the academy would offer a more coordinated approach to youth development. Rather than focusing only on identifying promising players, it would provide them with regular coaching, education and a clearer route toward senior football.
Funding and infrastructure
FIFA is providing the BFA with US$100,000, or approximately P1.38 million, to support the programme. That allocation could increase to US$200,000, or about P2.76 million, once the association establishes a fully operational academy.
FIFA may also assign a fully accredited coach whose salary would be paid by the governing body. The BFA, meanwhile, would be responsible for accommodation and other related expenses.
The programme was piloted in 2023, with a wider rollout originally planned for 2025. The association was unable to proceed because accommodation for the selected players was not ready.
“We are currently refurbishing the BFA hotels to make them habitable so that we can start the programme,” Rathari said. “It will cover the four corners of the country so that every child has an opportunity.”
The renovations are intended to create the residential facilities needed to house the players while they balance their academic and football commitments.
Girls and regional expansion
The first year of the programme will focus on boys under 13. Girls are expected to be included during the second year, provided suitable accommodation can be secured for female players.
The BFA also plans to establish satellite academies across the country’s four administrative blocks. The aim is to extend the programme beyond a central facility and give children from different regions a better chance of being discovered.
The academy’s success, though, will depend on more than FIFA funding. It will require suitable accommodation, qualified coaches, regular competition and a clear progression route for players who show promise.
Sono calls for a football overhaul
The South African football legend Jomo Sono told *WeekendSport* two weeks ago that Botswana needed a major overhaul of its youth development system. He urged the country to revive school sports and establish structured football academies from an early age.
Sono said Botswana had enough natural talent and league quality to compete at a higher level, but warned that the country risked wasting that potential without a reliable development pathway. The priority, he said, should be improving the way players are prepared before they enter senior football.
Botswana needs a system that connects schools, academies, clubs and the national teams, Sono said.
“I think it is important that Botswana starts creating development programmes and academies,” he said. “They must use their academies because that is how the top teams around the world bring through young players.”
The former Bafana Bafana coach said academies should not function merely as training centres. They should form part of a broader system designed to produce technically prepared players who can make the transition to senior football.
“That is what Botswana should do for the sake of consistency,” Sono said. “They need to have development teams and academies.”
