Botswana premiership giants Gaborone United have pulled out of the 2016 Caf Confederation Cup following financial constraints.
The Reds who lifted the 2015 Mascom Top 8 Cup after defeating city archrivals Township Rollers in the final in April 2015 were set to compete in the continental showpiece that kicks off on the weekend of February 12-14.
Club spokesman Ernest Mmirwa Mosedame told supersport.com that, “We would have loved to compete in the Caf Confederation Cup because we carry the Botswana flag and players get a lot of experience at that level but due to financial constraints, we are unable to go to Zanzibar.”
Moyagolele were scheduled to face Jeshi La Kujenga Uchumi (JKU) FC in the preliminary round playing away in Zanzibar first before hosting the return leg on the weekend of February 26-28.
Their withdrawal means that Botswana will not have a representative in this year’s continental tournaments after beMOBILE Premiership league champions Mochudi Centre Chiefs pulled out of the CAF Champions League for the same reason.
Chiefs were scheduled to face Mozambican outfit Ferroviaro Maputo in the preliminary round that commences on the weekend of February 12-14.
Both clubs will be fined $5 000 each by Caf and banned from participating in all Caf inter club competitions for the next two years.
“We are aware of the repercussions but our intention for sure was to compete at this stage because it comes with a lot of experience for the players and technical team as we hope to become a very formidable team,” said the remorseful Mosedame.
Gaborone United walked away with P1m ($88 000) for winning the Mascom Top 8 title and received P100 000 ($8 700) from league sponsors beMOBILE for the season, which Mosedame said is not enough to meet the club’s costs.
“Our trip to Zanzibar would have cost us $55 000 and we are talking about the preliminary stage. If we had advanced, we would need to play against a team Uganda or Sudan which would have been more expensive,” he said.
“Going forward, we are going to set up an account and prepare from now so that after two years, we are ready to play at the continental stage again.”
“We have explained to our players why we have failed to honour this fixture so they understand and this will not affect us in the long run.”
The last time Gaborone United competed at the continental stage was in 2010 when they reached the second round after defeating Orlando Pirates 2-2 on the away goals rule in the preliminary round.
They defeated Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius 6-0 on aggregate in the first round before falling to Zimbabwe’s Power Dynamos 4-2 on aggregate in the second round.
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