Football players are easily forgotten especially after they have hung up their soccer boots. Some are forgotten soon after they are injured. The speed at which players are forgotten is frightening to say the least. They end up not receiving support from the clubs they had been playing for, contrary to what is being done by different institutions. Most institutions compensate their employees for injuries suffered while at work. That is the best thing a normal an upright boos can ever do for his/her employees. The appreciation of the commitment and work the employee has done for the club/company is needed. It is sad for our clubs only to see the importance of players when they are active but when they are injured they are treated like pariahs. It’s not fair play but double standards.
Last week I was extremely saddened when I saw one of the country’s football legends suffering and looked to be neglected by the clubs he played for and even the ones he coached. He was such a sorry sight that I realised that a players’ fund is necessary to help our legends who kept the nation thoroughly entertained in their hey-day.
There is need for the retired players’ fund at least to help them survive in these hard economic times. The fund would be used to at least on their medical fees, to hire psychologists for them for counselling and for surgeries if the need to have a surgical operation arises. The Botswana Football Association (BFA) and the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) should pool resources in this regard. I would go further and plead with everyone responsible, including the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, to help the retired players register a special benevolent fund to which even their former employers could made a contribution as part of their social responsibility programmes. It is absolutely necessary. Just recently I attended a Premier League game and I felt very sorry for our former stars at the match, who are now destitute in a country rated as a middle income country. They need our collective support as a gesture of appreciation for what they have done for our football and for their country.
The fund will help those retired players who are in dire health and financial distress by providing a means to regain a semblance of dignity and quality of life that every human being deserves.
The retired former players are pioneers of the game and have greatly contributed to the status of football in the country.
It goes without saying that many of these players lack funds, and disability coverage or pension benefits.  The fund will, once set up, cater for the humanitarian side of these players, treating them with dignity, and addressing the post-football related issues in their lives. 
Almost all the retired players who played in past, have not reaped from some of the benefits of the modern day.  Hence, they lack adequate disability, rehabilitation, health insurance and retirement programmes to allow for, and maintain a quality of life and financial security for themselves and their families.
These legends find themselves with physical limitations, medical issues or other hardships that need initiatives like a special fund to help them.  Many older retired players are unable and cannot cover the medical and other expenses needed for the treatment of the effects of their football related injuries. By neglecting them they end up feeling embarrassed by their predicament, become hopeless, living like hermits and desperate for help.
I guess some of them need basic needs despite their contribution in football. The basic needs that the fund will help the players with will include food, clothing and decent shelter. I am not saying the new and up coming players should not be responsible, they should be prudent enough and contribute to this fund to ensure a decent life after their retirement.BY DUNCAN KGANGKENNA

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