This past Wednesday, Botswana football was rocked by the news of the immediate departure of national team coach Morena Ramoreboli.
The South African gaffer dumped the Zebras to join the South African national team as an assistant to head coach Pitso Mosimane. His resignation comes at a critical point for the Zebras.
While a joint statement by the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the BFA says ‘the transition reflects the strong footballing relationship between the two neighbouring countries,’ the truth may be the polar opposite.
The BFA was not amenable to what is now regarded as an ‘amicable’ departure and was not keen to let the gaffer go. The association found itself blindsided as the coach only informed them ‘he was resigning.’ With no laws to force him to honour his contract, they had no option but to let him go.
His departure leaves the BFA with the short end of the stick. It is ‘a win’ for South Africa and ‘a loss for Botswana.’ A week from today, the Zebras will commence their qualification campaign for the Africa Cup of Nations. They face Lybia next week on the 24th September away, before returning home to face Tunisia four days later on the 28th September 2026.
By Friday, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) was in a race against time to find an interim coach for the national team, the Zebras. The interim coach was expected to be announced on the same day.
Coincidentally, the interim coach’s appointment came on a day when the association was announcing its final squad to play in the upcoming qualifiers. The team is expected to go into camp this week to start preparations.
Reached for comment, BFA interim General Secretary Bathusi Rathari conceded that the association was not keen to let Ramoreboli go. He however says there was little they could to retain him. Regarding the impact of his departure on the Zebras campaign, the BFA expects it to be minimal. Rathari says campaign plans were already in place and they will continue unaltered.
‘In as much as the head coach is gone, we still have Pontsho Moloi and Oarabile Seabo who worked with him as assistant coaches. They will be expected to work with the incoming coach.’
‘As for the incoming interim coach, we are appointing a coach who promises to qualify us for the Afcon finals. Whoever the coach is, we expect him to work with the same template plan we already have,’ the BFA General Secretary explains.
While Rathari is optimistic the team will do well, football commentator Kagiso Kgaogano says the road ahead ‘will be bumpy.’ He says any dreams of qualifying for the next Afcon may just be ‘pipe dreams.’
He is of the view that even with Ramoreboli at the helm, the Zebras’ chances of qualifying were still very minimal. He points out that the team’s preparations were not adequate. Kgaogano believes that through his resignation, the South African gaffer dodged a bullet.
‘I believe joining the South African national team came as more of a relief for Ramoreboli. The last time he took the team to the Afcon finals, he did not get enough preparations for the team. The result was humiliation at the Afcon finals.’
‘This year again, he did not have enough opportunity to prepare the team. The last time the team had any meaningful match was at the Afcon finals in 2025. Since then, the team has not played any game together.’
‘During the Zebras’ last friendly games, which were against Zimbabwe and Malawi in the Mukuru tournament, only fringe players were used. This denied the substantive national team of a good opportunity to play together and prepare for these games,’ Kgaogano explains.
He says the fact that an interim coach is appointed with less than two weeks before the commencement of Afcon qualifiers is not helping the situation. ‘It is going to be a rough ride for the coach and the team,’ he says.