After the bitter divorce, where to for Popa?
Mqondisi Dube | Thursday June 15, 2023 10:05
Jagdish Shah and Township Rollers have been lovey-dovey since around 2012, but it all ended in bitter circumstances on May 31. The relationship, to borrow from a cliché, has irretrievably broken down.
Now each party is back at their mother’s house, possibly licking their wounds. Without a doubt, for now, the only home that is warm appears to be that of Shah’s. Rollers could need some cooling period but cannot afford to mourn forever as they have some football business to take care of. There are defiant Popa fans who maintain life is good (LG) across the aisle without the presence of Shah and his bottomless cash. The bus has been stripped, with some jokingly saying it will soon be seen on the Maun-Gaborone route.
The offices have been relocated as Shah has reportedly kicked-out Rollers and took almost each and every bit that he invested in the club. It’s not a new situation where a relationship hits a harsh cul-de-sac. At times a man demands even shoes that he brought for the woman during blissful times. I have seen a friend of mine doing that without even thinking twice.
What he did with the shoes, I do not even know. Shah is intent on stripping Rollers of all its dignity if it is true that everything that he has invested has followed him. But the die-hard Rollers fan will tell you that this massive football brand existed before Shah and exist it shall beyond Shah. “We have been through the storm, we have been through it all” so sings Mary J. Blige in his hit song ‘I will survive’ released in 2009, just two or so years before Rollers and Shah found themselves head over heels in love with each other.
The smitten lovers enjoyed their best decade as they won every trophy on offer, including four league titles on the trot. But now as each party heads in a different direction, how relevant are Blige’s lyrics to Popa? Yes, without a doubt Rollers will survive, but how and to what effect, is the lingering question. How healthy will be Rollers in the absence of Shah? We saw what happened to Gaborone United when Nicholas Zakhem withdrew his financial support. The club grew thinner and thinner and no longer had the luxury of three meals a day until the back love which reignited GU’s fortunes. GU and Rollers’ cases, while similar, might not produce a causal effect, one might argue.
But there are genuine fears in some quarters, Popa might not be shouting the Popa Popa e a Ipopa war cry with the fullest conviction in the aftermath of the messy divorce. Reports say the businessman invested more than P60 million in Rollers over the decade that he was at the club. It’s not a small figure and other than grandstanding, maTownship will have to get down to work and look for cash injection as soon as yesterday. The times for macho behaviour are fast fading in the rear view mirror of recent events and reality is sinking in. Both needed each other, but it is what it is and when the sun rises tomorrow, the multitude of Rollers fans want to see their beloved Popa still healthy and competitive.