Mamelodi Sidelined As League Start Is Delayed
Mqondisi Dube | Monday September 5, 2016 15:55
The BFA chief executive officer, Kitso Kemoeng issued a statement on Friday announcing the league had been postponed to allow Botswana’s Independence celebrations to continue.
Curiously, it was the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) and not the BPL board, which took the decision to move the dates.
Mamelodi was only informed through a letter from Kemoeng that the league had been postponed and that he should disseminate the information to clubs and the media.
“This letter serves to inform you that the NEC has decided that the league should start in the first week of October instead of September as initially anticipated. The specific dates will be communicated to you in due course. Please communicate this to your clubs and the media,” Kemoeng wrote to Mamelodi.
Instead of issuing a fresh statement, a clearly frustrated Mamelodi merely forwarded Kemoeng’s e-mail with a curt note: “Attached please find self-explanatory letter from the BFA for your information and records. Thank you.”
Mamelodi told Monitor Sport he was asked to disseminate BFA’s decision, but refused to elaborate further. “I was asked to disseminate the information. Yes, we were ready to start on the 9th (September),” was all Mamelodi was prepared to say. Kemoeng said Mamelodi was not involved in the decision to postpone the start of the league. “He was not involved. It was a decision to be communicated to the structures. We want to support BOT50 and we have encouraged the rest of our structures to follow,” he said in an interview.
The fight to uproot Mamelodi has intensified in recent weeks with reports that he will be deployed to a new (lesser) post at the BFA against his wishes.
The BPL was reportedly ready to commence the league on September 9 and had made provisions in their schedule for the Independence celebrations.
There were no games on the Independence weekend with the last fixture being the Gaborone derby between Township Rollers and Gaborone United on September 24. “Clearly the fights are far from over, the fixtures had taken into consideration the Independence celebrations and it does not make sense to postpone on those grounds. We always have celebrations and the excuse is flimsy. The target is Mamelodi as I hear the league will not start until he is removed from office,” a source told Monitor Sport.
Efforts to nudge Mamelodi out of office received fresh impetus when last month’s BFA general assembly rejected a motion which would have seen the league run by independent members and not club chairpersons.
The BPL board, which was previously suspended, was thrown a lifeline and is reportedly keen to remove Mamelodi as soon as possible. A forensic audit is underway, which it is said, the board believes will pin Mamelodi.
However, Mamelodi will challenge whatever finding in court. The internal fights are a blow to clubs which rely on gate takings and a congested schedule looms due to the late start of the league.