Football dragged back to usual corner
Mqondisi Dube | Saturday June 4, 2022 06:00
The start of the Botswana Premier League season was laden with controversy after five teams; Extension Gunners, Notwane, Mahalapye Railway Highlanders, Gilport Lions, and Mogoditshane Fighters were expelled from the league. The five were said to have failed to meet the Club Licensing requirements. The chopping of the five sides had temporarily left the league with only 11 clubs. However, a decision was taken to pardon the sides and soften the Club Licensing requirements to ensure the teams were compliant. Before then the Botswana Football Association (BFA) had been accused of failing to do enough to ensure the return to play after the game was halted in March 2020 owing to the outbreak of the COVID-19. The BFA faced criticism for declaring the season complete, although there were still 10 games to play before the disruption. There were calls to nullify the season instead. But the football authorities stuck by their decision, which saw some teams reluctantly relegated to the First Division.
Botswana football went for almost two years without action, as restive clubs demanded a return to play. When the season eventually got off the ground, the league had no title sponsor and teams were told they would only learn how much their sweat was worth, during the season. There was collective relief when football finally got underway in October, amid the new and present threat posed by COVID-19. The season appeared to run seamlessly, although the little rumblings could be heard here and there, these remained largely inconsequential. The BPL was praised for taxiing and getting the league airborne amid the prevailing challenges. Football was seemingly in cruise control destined for a smoother landing, a rare achievement for a controversy-laden game. But as the season's descent began, the Premier League’s plane hit violent turbulence. Everyone on board was disturbed as reports emerged Township Rollers had used a defaulter. Rollers were neck-to-neck with Gaborone United for the league title at the time. However, it only got deeper when it was revealed that Onkarabile Ratanang was registered almost a month after the transfer window closed. It was a fraudulent act, the BFA said.
Three officials, Sidney Magagane, Motshegetsi Mafa (both from Rollers), and former BFA official Phuthego Setete, were subsequently suspended from football as a result of the incident. The Players’ Status Committee (PSC) found Rollers guilty of improperly registering Ratanang. Exactly a month ago, Rollers were pronounced guilty, but there is still no sentence after several postponements. The latest came on Wednesday and the case is now set to continue on Monday and Tuesday. Ratanang is just a name, it could have been any other player as was the case in 2016 when the registration of Ofentse Nato was the spanner in the works. The season has already ended, but the boardroom is getting busier amid reports that Notwane are preparing to add further twist to the tale to what had been a competitive and near-seamless campaign. Notwane contend Gunners were not supposed to sign new players in the 2021–2022 season as they owe one of their former players. This could further compound matters and throw a season that had hit cruising altitude with so much promise, into disarray. The football on the pitch has been top drawer, but the game will, like a lamb to the slaughter, be dragged back to the usual swampy corner by boardroom wars.