Zebras� allowances, the monkey on BFA�s back
Mqondisi Dube | Wednesday August 13, 2014 12:29
The man aptly sums the sticky situation the Botswana Football Association (BFA) finds it self as the unrelenting monkey- player allowances- simply refuses to go away. Several years ago, the Zebras had a monkey of their own in the form of the ‘whipping boys of Africa’ tag. It stuck until swashbuckling performances brought relief to their burdened backs.
With every good performance, the Zebras found themselves battling a new form of monkey-allowances. An infamous incidence that springs into mind is the trip to Morocco, which turned into a nightmare when the players threatened to boycott their AFCON qualifier encounter.
A reserve team was ready to fly out to rescue the situation before the players agreed to honour the fixture.
Several other allowance skirmishes followed, which saw senior players Mogogi Gabonamong and Diphetogo Selolwane speak out.
Recent reports were that the situation had drastically improved. But fresh incidences point to a monkey, which has returned after the initial hunger was satisfied.
When the team was due to fly-out to Guinea Bissau, there were voices of discontent over the Bristol City allowances, and these rumblings refused to go away as on Monday night, the team had to defer its departure to Angola due to complaints over allowances.
Players reportedly demanded P7,000 allowances before leaving for Luanda to play a friendly match. After the BFA’s intervention the players agreed to travel but only left yesterday morning. They play Angola today.
“This keeps recurring because players do not sign contracts when they join the national team. In South Africa players sign contracts, that’s why you do not hear about pay disputes.
There is need to put players on contract,” a source said about resolving this challenge.
Meanwhile, the Premier League is fighting its own sponsorship demon, but chief executive officer, Bennett Mamelodi said they expect to sew up negotiations next week.
The Premier League started without a sponsor last weekend, but Mamelodi is confident that a new deal will be struck soon. Former sponsors, be MOBILE remain a possibility and so does one locally headquartered bank. The new deal is expected to be worth P30 million over three seasons, with significant revenue going to clubs as grants every month.