The COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted everyday activities around the world and been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Football too has been affected, with football activity suspended in almost every country or territory in the world. This is an unprecedented situation for football and Botswana is no exception.

With this in mind, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Executive Committee has set up a task team to look at the interventions that could be put in place by the association to save football from collapsing.

The committee comprises of representatives from the following structures;

• Botswana Premier League
• First Division
• Women football
• Footballers Union of Botswana
• Referees Commission
• Regional Football Association

This task force is mandated to provide appropriate guidance and recommendations to the BFA and its stakeholders to both mitigate the consequences of disruptions caused by COVID-19 and ensure that any response is harmonised in the common interest.

To this end the established committee was expected to;

• must examine, inter alia, the need for amendments to or temporary dispensations from the Regulations on the status and transfere of players to protect contracts for both players and clubs and for adjustments to player registration periods
• advise on how football stakeholders can protect contractual stability, and ensure clubs do not go bankrupt
• consider the financial impact of COVID-19 on clubs and how to protect jobs as much as possible
• look at the financial losses experienced by all the BFA structures and advise on the interventions to put in place
• assess each of the affected structures and advise on the which ones to assist as a matter of urgency
• categorise the BFA structures according to the nature of the intervention needed and the time to offer such assistance
• The Committee has agreed on the initial advances to clubs whilst we await the actual Covid19 relief funds from FIFA;
• . The referees be assisted with P 500 each for BPL referees, P 180 each for National First Division and P100 for Regional referees.
• . Women’s teams and all regional teams are to receive an initial payment of P 2,000 per team
• Foreign Nationals players in the Botswana Primer League will each P 2,500 over 3 months, and P 1, 500 for the National First Division.
• Foreign coaches will receive P 2,500 each. The Botswana football Association will in total will disburse is P 1,404,760.00. The structures and clubs have been advised on how this benefits can be accessed.