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Jonathan Mshingaidze

Sports Correspondent
BOTSWANA Football Association (BFA), keen on co-hosting the African Cup of Nations with Zimbabwe, are waiting for government approval before making a proposal to land the 2017 continental football showpiece. Zimbabwe turned to Botswana after their initial effort to entice Zambia to co-host the Afcon 2017 edition hit a brick wall as their northern neighbours rejected the proposal saying it was impractical as Zambia are scheduled to host the Africa Youth Championships in the same year.
Libya were supposed to host the 2017 edition but due to civil unrest, they decided to pull out.

BFA vice president technical Tariq Babitseng confirmed receipt of Zimbabwe’s proposal.
He said they immediately instructed the BFA chief executive officer, Keith Masters, to sound government on whether they would back the association should they partner with Zimbabwe on the bid.

“We received the letter from Zifa on Monday and we have asked Keith Masters to see if government would buy into it should we agree to Zimbabwe’s proposal,” Babitseng said.“We do not have a problem with that.”

Zimbabwe are keen on convincing the Confederation of African Football to consider their bid to stage the 2017 tournament.
Zifa chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze on Monday revealed that they had engaged Botswana for the joint bid to challenge Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania who are also vying to host the 2017 edition.

Caf had an executive meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last week where they also named the hosts for the 2019, 2022 and 2024 Nations Cup tournaments.
Botswana and Zimbabwe have up to September 30 to thrash out an agreement.

Zifa, who already have the support of President Mugabe, believe they stand a good chance to win.
“There are consultations underway with our neighbours Botswana and we are now awaiting feedback from them. It must be remembered that Botswana also meet the Caf requirements, having successfully hosted the African Under-17 Youth Championships before,” Mashingaidze was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the Zebras will host Zimbabwe’s Warriors in an international friendly match set for September 30.
The match is part of the country’s independence celebrations and will be played at the National Stadium.