The Burkinabè Football Federation (FBF) held its ordinary General Assembly (GA) on Saturday in Ouagadougou to report on its management of football and provide prospects for convincing results, a-t – we observed on the spot at his headquarters.
The president of the Burkinabè Football Federation Lazare Banssé who led the work said that “the problems of football are immense, the passion is also great at the level of the actors. Overall, they pose the problem of the development of our football which has taken on a certain scale today. We are at a crossroads between clubs of all categories: whether it is Ligue 1, Ligue 2, Ligue 3, the Women, we feel a great desire to move the lines to move forward in our football ”.
This demonstrates for him, “vitality for our football”. He said he took all concerns into account to get things done.
The point on which there has been more debate is the withholding of 25% of the scholarship granted to clubs by the Ministry in charge of sports for the organization of small category championships. Some clubs want this money returned to them when the decision to use it for the youth championship was taken in 2017 during a tripartite meeting between the Ministry in charge of sports, the Federation and the clubs, to listen to President Banssé.
“It’s not the Federation’s money. We are only intermediaries and we will raise the problem with the ministry in charge of sports and the decision will be taken at this level. But what people need to understand is that succession is also important. The proof today is that at the level of the U20s, U17s, we have results. I am campaigning for us to continue to organize the youth championships and perhaps find another distribution key at the level of the stock market in agreement with the clubs to avoid this sling, ”analyzed the president of the FBF.
The other stumbling block was the establishment of the electoral commission where some felt that it was necessary to hold an election for the establishment of members on the list of candidates. What was done. But Lazare Banssé explains that “we launched a call for candidates for the electoral commission, we registered candidates and we retained a list of candidates. It is therefore this list which will constitute the next electoral commission for the upcoming elections for the president of the Federation and the executive committee”.
Sacred union around the Stallions to win the CAN 2023
What is close to the heart of the President of the Executive Committee (Comex) of the FBF are at two levels according to him: “the CAN that we are going to play in Côte d’Ivoire and the U17 World Cup”.
For Lazare Banssé, “we have to be able to go to Côte d’Ivoire with very big ambitions. I wish a sacred union around the Stallions. It is played in Ivory Coast which is a bit like at home. The public will certainly be with us because we have a lot of compatriots there. We can afford to dream, win the CAN. There is also the world. For 11-12 years, we have been returning to the world cadets. It’s a big deadline for us and I hope that the young people of Brahima Traoré (coach of the Burkinabè U17s: editor’s note) will perform well during this world championship in Indonesia.
Burkina Faso has no approved stadiums for Burkinabè teams in international competition to play at home. President Banssé blew that “there are ways that apart from the August 4 stadium, we have other stadiums. There is a project concerning Koudougou. There is talk of building a stadium with 15,000 to 20,000 seats. If things go well we will have good news by then.
The GA debated for a long time about men’s football almost obscuring women’s football. And the coach of the Stallions ladies Pascal Sawadogo leader of a women’s club, “the debates of men’s football dominated the debates. I made a heart cry towards the end because there is hope in the feminine. There are a few issues plaguing women’s football such as the squad issue.
We play with 10 clubs and we want to go to 14 while there are teams that don’t even have 20 players for the whole season. With the injuries, the suspensions, the pain in the lower abdomen, the studies, how we can manage. So there will be quantity but not necessarily quality. The other concern is the transfer of players. Everyone wants good female players but are not ready to train. The bigger ones tend to eat the smaller ones.
But he recognizes that in this General Assembly “people have had time to express themselves and when people manage to express themselves it is already the beginning of a solution. It was a good exercise for everyone”.
President Banssé announced that the first division national football championship, the League, will start on September 1st . The opening ceremony was chaired by the Director General of Sports Alexandre Yougbaré.
Source: Burkina Information Agency