The recent attempt to chop five clubs from the Premier League via the Club Licensing system exposes a persisting unpalatable situation. Extension Gunners, Masitaoka, Morupule Wanderers, Eleven Angels and Mogoditshane Fighters have until tomorrow at 5pm to fight for their stay in the Premier League.
Some of the clubs failed to obtain the license due to their lackadaisical attitude.
There is the ‘core work’ stage where the clubs are given the opportunity to go through the check-list before submitting their license application for vetting. So there was ample time for these clubs to ensure all was in order before submission.
The clubs were deemed not ‘serious enough’ to compete in the Premier League after they failed the initial Club Licensing vetting process. Efforts for a reprieve fell by the way side when the Appeals Body upheld the First Instance Body (FIB) decision. Then up stepped the Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Executive Committee (NEC) with ‘prayers’ to the FIB to re-look the cases.
Apparently FIB was not pleased with the NEC’s decision as they felt they had judiciously done their job. There is always the ever present danger that the FIB and the Appeals Body stick to their original decision. But the likes of Masitaoka and Wanderers will fancy their chances as their transgressions were considered minor. Gunners and Fighters have the constant ‘noisemakers’ after they made the list of chopped clubs again last season.
However, they were pardoned but this time around, could be staring down the barrel. The two clubs are guilty of not paying salaries, while debutants, Angels have no office and development structures. All the clubs have been asked to pay P15,000 before their issues are re-looked at.
However, Angels sent an immediate SOS to raise the P15,000.
This on its own is a red flag or a worrying signal. How can a club competing in the Premier League struggle to raise P15,000? What about the rest of the campaign, how will they manage? Guaranteed it’s tough for everyone, in an environment made even more difficult by the COVID-19 pandemic, but clubs should have a sound financial plan to participate in the Premier League. The other issue is, are clubs not ‘cheating’ the system for the sake of obtaining the license.
The prevailing environment makes it difficult for clubs to run a fully-fledged office, which opens the door for manipulating the system.
