BFA NEC to decide on referees
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Tuesday October 11, 2016 11:22
The referees downed tools over the weekend and forced the postponement of several BTC Premiership matches because of issues of payments.
BFA referees committee chairperson, Eatametse Olopeng said they are busy writing a report which will be submitted to the NEC to look into. He said the report will have recommendations on the way forward regarding the weekend fiasco. “The NEC will make a decision based on our report. Remember the Referees Committee is an advisory body to the NEC over matters that concern the referees. The committee will advise accordingly and then NEC will make a decision,” he said yesterday. Olopeng said as their chairperson, he has met referees around the country where they shared their concerns, which seem to be common among all of them. He however said the bigger picture in all these should be football. “Football has suffered a lot in the past and we do not want it to suffer again. All the stakeholders should strive for a common purpose which is to fix the image of football in the country,” he said.
Although efforts to reach Botswana Premier League (BPL) acting chief executive officer (CEO), Thabo Ntshinogang proved futile at the time of going to press, he had previously insisted the referees had been paid. It was not clear when the games that failed to take place will be re-scheduled.
Meanwhile amid the controversy surrounding the referees, Premier League giants, Township Rollers, Gaborone United (GU) and Orapa United got off to a bright start to this season’s BTC Premiership. The Ostriches kicked off the show on Friday with a 4-1 demolition of Miscellaneous at Itekeng Stadium before GU and Rollers registered comfortable wins on Sunday.
Former Mochudi Centre Chiefs midfielder, Tendai Nyumasi continued where he left off last season when he got into the score sheet for his new team, Orapa United. The other goals came from Zebron Njobvu, Lemogang Maswena and Khumoetsile Kufigwa who also joined Orapa United this season. Madinda Ndlovu’s men are now at the summit of the league table with defending champions right below them.
The two sides are once again earmarked to tussle each other for this season’s league title. Rollers kicked off their title defence with a resounding 3-0 victory over Nico United in Serowe.
Terrence Mandaza scored a brace with Lemponye Tshireletso netting the other goal. GU on the other hand, were also relentless against Police XI and registered a 2-0 win with goals from Hendrick Moyo and Karabo Phiri. In the other game, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Gunners played to a 1-1 draw in their first game of the season. Chiefs will this coming Friday travel to Orapa for what is promising to be a thriller.