Senzo Mbatha unveiled as new Botswana Football League CEO

The BFL is an independent company formed to run and manage the affairs of professional football in Botswana, it’s an affiliate to Botswana Football Association. Mbatha, who has previously worked as the Football Manager at the now defunct Platinum Stars and also as Administrative Manager at Orlando Pirates, was unveiled to the media in Gaborone yesterday. Speaking to SABC Sport, Mbatha says he’s excited to be working in the football space again.

"The appointment means a lot to me. It means that I'm back again in the business of football, I'm not working in my little corner in the office. I'm excited to be back and getting my hands dirty again in the football space. I'm looking forward to doing my best, let's see where we can take the league" he said.

Mbatha is no stranger to working with the league, having served as the Projects Manager at the Premier Soccer League in South Africa between 2010 and 2012, as he returned from being a Deputy Tournament Director at the 2010 FIFA World Cup Local Organizing Committee (LOC). He says the new vision of the BFL, which will run the Botswana Premier League (BPL) that is made up of 16 teams excites him.

"There were a number of opportunities and most of them were in the same region. I thought since Botswana Football league is a new brand, they have just incorporated themselves into the Premier Soccer League, so they've moved away from being managed under the hospices of the association. I always love such projects because it gives you an opportunity to lay a foundation," he added.

BPL has for years lived in the shadow of the PSL and Zambian Super League in Southern Africa and Mbatha says the commercialization and the professionalization of the league including improved relations with all the stakeholders will help to improve its stature.

"The most important thing is to make sure that we build this brand, the Botswana Football League. Which consists of the premier league and the first division, we need to make sure that we are a respected brand, as young as it is. We also need to ensure that there's corporate governance in place, there's club development in place and there's also a league development. To top it all, we need to commercialize and professionalise the league," he concluded.