A normal BFA is abnormal

Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday January 25, 2022 06:00

It’s nothing out of the usual. A highly volatile and political atmosphere permeates the walls of Lekidi Centre with unerring regularity. It’s a place where angels fear to tread, with any attempt to go against the tide leaving reputations in tatters. The revolving Lekidi door keeps spitting them out in various shapes and forms. It’s a place of (long) knives and a lot of stabbing and back-stabbing. Zero balance, misappropriation of funds and internecine fights have become welcome companions at BFA. The ruckus, the bickering and negative publicity have also become acceptable hallmarks. It is an enduring legacy that has stood the taste of time.

A financially health and a squabble-free BFA, is like an elephant on top of a tree. Something has to give and true to form, it does give. A normal BFA is abnormal. If there is no public scandal, know that there is something brewing behind the scenes.

The recent P8.8million conundrum took around eight months to brew, and the president was completely oblivious, until they tapped his shoulder around December. And in ensuring the controversy conveyor belt remains undisturbed, the BFA reported the BFA to the world governing body that there was something sinister about BFA’s financials. And then FIFA responded by sending a former Botswana Football Association (BFA) president to investigate BFA. Remember David Fani, the man who was in charge of local football for a combined eight years? He found himself on the plane home from Johannesburg to Gaborone, not on his usual homecoming visits, but to probe the very same organization he once led. There was a tinge of de ja vu; nothing was new. Fani was attending an accident scene at an all-too familiar crash site. He has been at Lekidi before, seen this and done that. FIFA asked Fani to fly to Gaborone from Johannesburg to inspect the mangled financial wreck involving P6million of the world mother body’s funds. The Sir Seretse Khama Airport is a regular port of entry for Fani.

He has been through the departure and arrivals doors on countless times. The roads leading to Lekidi Centre, other than some expansion works, are well known to Fani. Probably the door handles at Lekidi Centre haven’t been changed since Fani’s time. The boardroom still remains on the right of the reception. The auditorium where he faced uncomfortable questions from journalists still sits imposingly where Fani left it. The chief executive officer’s office is still down the corridor. Nothing much has changed despite the fact that Fani left the top football post almost a decade ago when the association’s then legal advisor, Tebogo Sebego pulled a ‘coup-de-tat’. When BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti sat down and wrote ‘Dear FIFA’ little did he know he was inviting a former BFA president to probe the BFA over ‘missing’ funds.

How bizarre was it for Fani to interview, among others, Letshwiti on the matter? On tour was Solomon Mugende who disturbed what could have been a local affair. Fani is not only familiar with the physical structures at BFA, but is very much aware of the regular controversies that, like glue, have stuck to local football. He is no stranger to the negative spotlight himself, having starred in several flash points during his reign. This includes failure to register teams for CAF competitions in 2010, the zero balance and the welfare of the Zebras players. Finance has become BFA’s Achilles Heel and Fani will obviously finding nothing funny about his recent trip.