Substitute egos with humility in BFL crisis

Mmegi Editor | Monday January 22, 2024 08:48

The goals, saves and celebrations on the pitch have, for the past month, sadly been replaced by an ugly boardroom episode.

The Botswana Football League (BFL) brawl has steadily spread like cancer and is now holding local football hostage. There are no league matches to talk about as warring factions take turns to showcase their heavy artillery in a bid to wrestle control of the league’s governing body. The BFL only gained autonomy from the mother body, the Botswana Football Association (BFA), last season.

The crippling saga has seen daggers drawn from almost all football quarters and extended to government enclave via the office of the Minister of Youth, Gender, Sport and Culture.

There are no victors or the vanquished yet as both camps appear impatient to wait for the case to go before the BFA Arbitration Tribunal.

Victory will be key to both camps, but it is not what football needs at this moment. The sport deserves dedicated individuals whose sole aim will be to drive the game forward. The public has been treated to a dizzying audition of how not to run football since the December 16, 2024 Palapye meeting, which was the ugly trigger to a burgeoning crisis.

Every passing moment comes with an unwanted twist, which further drives the wedge between the two factions. In one corner, sits Nicholas Zakhem, the former BFL chairperson, while at the other end Tebogo Sebego leads the other faction.

The two groups should be told in no uncertain terms that their insatiable appetite for chaos at the expense of the game is far from desirable. Both parties should at least show willingness to put down the daggers and at least pursue a lasting solution to the impasse instead of adding fuel to the already raging inferno.

They might portray an image of caring individuals but their actions are harming the sport they claim to protect. The BFA should act as neutral ‘father’ amid accusations the mother body is favouring Zakhem in the stand-off. The Sebego group should equally allow the resolution of the matter before the Arbitration Tribunal rather than assume the business as usual posture. Only a pronouncement from a credible court process would provide the factions, and indeed the nation with the wanted direction. Minister Tumiso Rakgare should also desist from taking sides before the issue is concluded. Sober minds are needed now before football is razed to the ground right before our eyes.