<\/p>\n
COSAFA confirmed that the Presidency, Vice\u2011Presidency, plus the executive seat reserved for women are uncontested positions for the 2026 elections, following eligibility plus integrity checks. Alongside Babitseng, Alfred Randriamanampisoa is unopposed for Vice\u2011President, while Brenda Kunda is unopposed for the reserved women\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Babitseng is expected to fill a leadership vacuum created after former COSAFA president Artur de Almeida e Silva stepped down from the role after losing the Angola Football Association Presidency, a scenario linked to COSAFA statutes tying leadership eligibility to national association office.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Babitseng\u2019s rise through regional football administration has been rapid. Babitseng secured the Botswana FA presidency in 2024 after defeating McLean Letshwiti, who previously served on the Confederation of African Football Executive Committee. COSAFA history shows one previous Motswana holder of the COSAFA Presidency, the inaugural President Ismail Bhamjee, who served from 1992 to 2006.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The COSAFA electoral list shows five candidates contesting four open executive committee seats: Linda Zwane, Lijane Nthunya, Nqobile Magwizi, Robert Shimooshili, plus Peter Simelane. A secret ballot is scheduled for the elective AGM in Harare.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
COSAFA also notes that zonal union leadership is linked to wider CAF structures, with COSAFA leadership roles typically carrying influence in continental governance processes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABC\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":33551,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-33550","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Botswana Football Association President Tariq Babitseng is set to become the youngest president of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) after nomination unopposed for the top post ahead of COSAFA\u2019s elective Annual General Meeting in Harare on May 17 2026.","published_date":"","news_description":"Botswana Football Association President Tariq Babitseng is set to become the youngest president of the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) after nomination unopposed for the top post ahead of COSAFA\u2019s elective Annual General Meeting in Harare on May 17 2026.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33553,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/33550\/revisions\/33553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=33550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}