3 December 2025
The chorus of ‘coach Morena Ramoreboli out’ is growing louder in Botswana after the Zebras’ three group-stage defeats [Senegal 3-0; Benin 1-0; DRC 3-0] at the 2025 AFCON in Morocco.It was only the Zebras’ second appearance at an AFCON, 13 years after their maiden qualification in 2012.
Following the team’s recent struggles on the continental stage, Morena Ramoreboli has become the easiest target. But before the Botswana Football Association [BFA] bows to public pressure and hands him his walking papers, it needs to ask itself a painful question: Are they firing the coach to fix the problem, or to hide from the truth?
Sacking a coach is the oldest trick in the football book. It creates an illusion of “decisive action” and buys the leadership another six months of peace. But in the case of the Zebras, Ramoreboli isn’t the architect of Botswana’s failure; he is simply the man left standing when the house of cards collapsed.
Look at the teams that consistently dominate AFCON. Their rosters are populated by players competing in the English Premier League, Ligue 1, and the Bundesliga. They are being forged in the highest-pressure environments in world football every weekend.
Ramoreboli not the problem, Botswana system is
Currently, Botswana has roughly four players plying their trade outside the country. The captain, Thatayaone Ditlhokwe, plays in Libya, while Tumisang Orebonye is with Morocco’s Wydad AC, and Kabelo Seakanyeng plays for MAS Fes. Gape Mohutshiwa is in Algeria with MC Oran.
While Botswana’s local league is developing, it cannot match the intensity of European or high-level African competition. To expect ‘miracles’ from a coach when his player pool is primarily restricted to a developmental domestic circuit isn’t just optimistic; it’s delusional.
Botswana is a nation obsessed with the ‘roof’ of the building [the Zebras] while ignoring the ‘foundation’ [grassroots and youth academies].
What happens after firing Ramoreboli?
You cannot ‘skip stages’ in football development. Success is the outcome of investment, specifically in structured youth leagues. Where are the Under-12 and U-15 national programmes? Is Botswana empowering local coaches at the village level? How can you produce elite technical players on substandard pitches? Batswana demand AFCON glory yet treat the local league and youth development as afterthoughts. It’s like trying to harvest a crop you never bothered to plant.
Suppose the BFA fires Ramoreboli tomorrow. What happens next? A new coach arrives, perhaps a highly-priced expatriate or a local hero and walks into the same room. He finds the same lack of resources, the same absence of international scouting, and the same structural bottlenecks.
Two years from now, Botswana will be sitting in this exact spot, drafting the same ‘coach out’ headlines. The coach is not the engine; he is merely the driver. If the engine is broken, changing the driver won’t make the car go faster.
Yes, Morena Ramoreboli is not beyond criticism. No coach is. But to suggest that his departure would suddenly solve Botswana football’s systemic failures is a lie. Sacking the coach is the easy way out. It’s a cosmetic fix for a deep-seated infection. The ‘hard work’ is what Botswana is currently avoiding.
What happened to efforts to reform the BFA to prioritise long-term development over short-term results? How long will it take to professionalise the local league to attract better sponsorship and higher levels of competition? And when will Botswana start aggressively exporting talent to better leagues to bridge the experience gap?
Until Botswana addresses the root of the problem, every coach they hire is being set up to fail. Stop looking for a scapegoat and start looking in the mirror.
The Zebras background
The Botswana national football team, nicknamed the Zebras, is Botswana’s national team and is controlled by the Botswana Football Association (BFA).
Financial facts and player payments
Official Incentives – The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) provides an official incentive policy. For qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), each player was awarded P14,000 (Botswana Pula).
Match Bonuses: – In addition to government/BNSC incentives, private entities and BFA officials often pledge bonuses for specific match victories. For a 2025 AFCON qualifier victory over Cape Verde, each player was promised a total of P25,000 in pledges from the BFA president, Choppies CEO, and Zac Construction.
AFCON Prize Money – For participation in the 2025 AFCON finals, the BFA committed to allocating 50% of the tournament’s prize money to the players. This guaranteed the players a minimum pool of over P4 million even for a group-stage exit.
Payment Issues – Historically, the team has faced issues with the late or non-payment of allowances and appearance fees, leading to player dissatisfaction and even threats of boycotts. The BFA has sometimes struggled to pay players consistently due to sponsorship issues.
Sponsorship – The team has secured significant sponsorship deals, such as a P54 million injection from First National Bank (FNB) into the BFA in recent years, some of which is allocated to the national teams.
Team performance facts
Nickname – The team is officially nicknamed “The Zebras”. The women’s national team is nicknamed “The Mares” (a female zebra is called a mare).
AFCON Qualifications – The Zebras have qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) twice in their history – 2012 and 2025.
Coaching- The government and BFA have sometimes faced dilemmas regarding the payment of the head coach’s salary, with the BFA requesting government assistance.
Home Stadium – The condition of the national stadium has been a point of concern, with reports noting it does not meet international standards despite the team’s successes.
Source: https://shorturl.at/nPGba
