17 hours agoBabitseng: Zakhem sets new standard for Botswana football

For years, Botswana football has been caught in a cycle of fleeting ambition. Investors arrive with big promises, bankroll a handful of player salaries, chase quick success, and vanish when fortunes shift. What they often leave behind are unpaid debts, struggling clubs, and little to show for their efforts.

But Botswana Football Association (BFA) president Tariq Babitseng believes Gaborone United owner Nicolas Zakhem has rewritten that script. At a time when the country faces a severe shortage of football infrastructure, Babitseng says Zakhem has offered a tangible blueprint for club ownership; one built not on rhetoric but on bricks, mortar, and sustainable investment. The Gaborone United stadium, located beside the University of Botswana, has become one of the country’s busiest football venues since the National Stadium closed.

What began as a modest training ground has evolved into a multipurpose facility, hosting more than 70 percent of FNB Premiership matches, First Division games, and national team training camps. More significantly, Zakhem has created 110 jobs for locals and foreigners alike, providing Botswana football with an asset that extends well beyond the interests of a single club. For Babitseng, this is the essence of true football investment.

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“For too long, local football has been treated to empty promises disguised as investment,” he said. “Businessmen walk into clubs declaring themselves saviors, only to vanish after paying a few salaries, leaving no structures, no facilities, and no legacy. The game remains stuck, bleeding potential.” His remarks come as Botswana football increasingly shifts its focus from short-term spending toward long-term sustainability.

The BFA is urging clubs to develop commercial assets that can generate independent revenue. Babitseng emphasized that Zakhem’s investment shows football infrastructure is about more than just building facilities; it’s about creating opportunities that benefit clubs, players, and communities alike. “Unlike many before him, Nicolas Zakhem didn’t just talk about football development – he built it,” he said.

The facility stands proudly in Gaborone as the heart of Gaborone United, serving as home to both the men’s and women’s teams. “This is more than just a training ground,” Babitseng noted. “It is a structure that generates revenue, creates jobs, and opens opportunities for ordinary Batswana.

It is a model of sustainability that benefits not only Gaborone United but Botswana football as a whole.” When the National Stadium was unavailable, the Gaborone United complex was one of the few venues capable of hosting top-tier football. It eased pressure on clubs and ensured league play continued without interruption. National teams have also used the venue, underscoring its growing role in Botswana’s football landscape.

Babitseng sees the project as proof that clubs can evolve from entities dependent on benefactors into professionally managed institutions with long-term financial stability. He challenged football investors across the country to move beyond funding transfer fees and player wages. Instead, he urged them to invest in infrastructure that will outlast individual owners.

“If you want to make a difference in Botswana football, come benchmark here. Build something that lasts. Create a structure.

Leave a mark. Give players, clubs, and communities something they can depend on. Then we will call you an investor,” he said.

According to Babitseng, Gaborone United’s transformation is no accident. “It is the outcome of vision, planning, leadership, and sustained investment. Zakhem, you have not simply invested in Gaborone United; you have invested in Botswana football.

This facility has become a benchmark for our country.” He urged club chairpersons and executives to study the Gaborone United model rather than admire it from afar. “I encourage every football investor, every club chairman, and every executive committee in Botswana to come here – not to admire it, but to learn from it. Benchmark it, study it, and then go back and build something even greater.

When one club succeeds, Botswana football benefits. When many clubs succeed, Botswana becomes a football nation.” Babitseng argued that real transformation is not measured by new logos, flashy kit launches, or expensive signings. Instead, sustainable success comes from changing how clubs think, operate, and generate income.

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