Remaining BCL employees rescue Nico
Onalenna Kelebeile | Friday May 12, 2017 11:41
Nico plunged into financial turmoil last year when BCL Mine was placed under provisional liquidation, which saw the club fail to shell players’ dues.
The team’s wage bill stands at P80,000 per month and the club has gone for four months without paying its players and has also been defaulting on utility bills. Their transport is no longer free as it used to be under BCL because now the liquidator has to protect the creditors’ assets.
According to the team manager, Duncan Taolo the club uses the monthly grant from the Premier League to meet players’ expenses.
“We had a five year plan to diversify the team’s income from BCL, but the plan was abandoned when the mine management changed. We have been running around seeking sponsorship for the team. We panicked a bit when the mine closedhence we started a bit late to look for sponsorships,” he said.
He noted that the team is in a bad position on the log (14th) and facing certain relegation. He added the local business community is willing to help the team, but it has become impossible under the current economic climate.
Taolo said the team is left with four critical games to save their Premiership status. Deputy mayor, Molefhi Pilane said he met the club management during the sponsored walk organised to raise funds for the team and appreciated that the team needs assistance.
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the plight of Nico as the town leadership because it is the only team remaining in the Premier League in the Selebi-Phikwe region. The team has a role to play in diversifying the town’s economy hence we cannot afford to ignore it,” he said.
He said he does not want to believe that Nico would be relegated as that would affect the town’s economic fortunes.
He said this forced him to approach the liquidator for assistance by at least providing free transport for the remaining away games, but that was impossible.
“I am happy that the liquidator and the care and maintenance team were able to assist the team financially. I still appeal to the business community to do anything they can afford so that Nico can continue representing the town and the region,” he said.
The provisional liquidator Nijel Dixon-Warren and KPMG were represented by Majaha Majaha during the cheque handover.