‘Protecting the Game’ a must read (Part II)
Tshiamo Rantao | Monday April 7, 2025 12:07
At the material time, the BFA offices were located at Extension 10 in Gaborone, next to Gaborone Secondary School’s football field. It was a walking distance from the UB. The police had permitted the students to undertake a protest march to the BFA offices. Koufie had suggested that Mamelodi should turn down the request, but he declined.
More than a handful of students marched to the BFA offices, animated in song. It was about 200 students. Their Minister of Sports was elevated by a quickly erected stand made of bricks from the BFA garden. He opened the petition, explaining that they had decided to protest because of the perpetual defeat of the national team, the Zebras. Amongst other things, they demanded that the coaches be changed and Koufie be dismissed as they had failed Batswana in developing football. They also demanded that the BFA CEO (Mamelodi himself) must resign or be fired, as all failures were taking place under his watch.
Following this encounter, Mamelodi, accompanied by David Fani, a then NEC member, and lawyer, went to UB to address the student representatives, including the UB Sports Minister who had presented the petition. He found them “disarmed and submissive, which differed from those who visited our (the BFA) offices the previous week. They probably needed the support of the rest of the student body to give them the energy that they displayed at last week’s meeting.” As a former student activist and secretary-general of the UB SRC myself, I can relate.
As Mamelodi was growing up in Gaborone, the football scene was dominated by Gaborone United and Township Rollers. He makes mention of the late Welly Seboni, “the flamboyant manager of Gaborone United FC”. He also makes mention of two massive characters from Township Rollers, Kgosi Mokhutshwane Sekgoma and the late Francis van Vureen.
When he entered the game’s leadership, Gaborone United had manager David Mophuting whilst Township Rollers FC had Ntate Liau, a Lesotho national who became an all-time favourite of Township Rollers FC and delivered a good number of trophies for the blue team.
By the time he entered the game’s leadership, more clubs were in contention as Gaborone United and Township Rollers’ dominance was clearly on the wane. “Enter Extension Gunners, a Lobatse outfit, and Notwane, another Gaborone club that had attracted the more affluent residents of Gaborone,” he says. TAFIC of Francistown also became a household name.
He recalls a period that had him fearing for his life due to the possibility of spending time in jail. This was after the 1992 football season as Notwane found itself at the bottom of the league and was due to be relegated to the lower division. Notwane had challenged the game they had been fixtured to play against Township Rollers at the beginning of 1992, arguing that Rollers was supposed to have been relegated to the lower tier the previous season, and was therefore ineligible to play with them in the Super League. The BFA insisted that they honour the fixture.
At the end of the 1992 league season, Notwane required only one point to be saved from relegation to the lower league, and so its game against Township Rollers FC again reared its ugly head.
Notwane took the matter to the High Court. The 1992 Super League Awards, sponsored by Castle from Kgalagadi Breweries (Pty) Ltd, began promptly at 7pm as indicated in the invitation. Mamelodi cleverly, or, if you like, dangerously, rearranged the evening programme so that the awarding of prizes came before the speeches, “this was unprecedented, and, as I learnt in retrospect, unjustified. We went through the awards, and all the teams except Notwane FC obtained prizes and trophies for the champions and runners-up. To my mind, I had once again protected the game,” he states. At that point, he felt victorious as he genuinely believed that an order served now, would be of no consequence. It would be academic.
Notwane dragged Mamelodi and BFA to court for contempt of court, unpacking what had happened on the night of the League Awards as a deliberate ploy by the BFA, particularly Mamelodi, to circumvent the order of the High Court. This they did by changing the order of the standard programme, contended the highly experienced advocate, Dr Lever.
“Who is this Mamelodi, and why did he think he has a right to defy the Court Order,” roared the presiding judge, Gyeke-Dako. What followed almost made Mamelodi collapse. The judge stated that he had a sound mind to send “this Mamelodi fellow to prison for a few days for contempt. Sydney Pilane took a quick look at me and knew me well enough to employ all his legal experience to fight the issue of contempt. I cannot recall what convinced Justice Gyeke-Dako against acceding to Notwane about contempt,” says Mamelodi.
The court found in favour of Notwane FC by ordering that it be excluded from the fixtures for the 1993 season as the league had already started, provided that it was granted the right to participate in the Super League the following season.
In his stellar career, Mamelodi amassed awards, and rightfully so. One of the earlier awards bestowed upon him was the Supreme Council of Sport – Zone 6 Award for the Best Administrator, which award he received on June 26, 2006. He did not have to apply. A panel was set up to determine the recipients. He was also awarded the CAF Award when CAF celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2007. “The one that brought on a great deal of emotion was the FIFA Centennial Award in 2004. This was in commemoration of the FIFA centennial celebrations. FIFA had directed that all its member associations identify one individual who stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the country regarding their contribution,” he says. According to him, this award probably ranks amongst his most prized possessions in gold.
On September 30, 2006, he received the Presidential Order for Meritorious Service as Botswana celebrated its 40th Independence Day.
“Although the BNSC started a sports hall of fame quite some time ago, it is no surprise that I have not been selected. Several people from football have been awarded, and deservedly so, but I question how some of those were awarded ahead of me. However, it neither surprises me nor gives me sleepless nights. In sports, particularly in my country, I have learnt that prejudice is never far away and can be generously dispensed. I pray it will be raised for future generations, so they are spared from the venom,” he writes.
Having done his first 10 years at FIFA as a Development Officer, Mamelodi received a special pennant from the FIFA president, accompanied by a ‘good cash award’. The final award that he mentions is a dinner held in his honour by the Metropolitan Company, sponsors of COSAFA Under-20.
‘Protecting The Game’ is a must-read by any football administrator, football fan, and those who value good governance, around the world and within Botswana, in particular. He is, without a doubt, the epitome of good governance, dedication, and honesty in leadership. Having volunteered in sport administration in general, particularly in the judicial structures, I have seen and experienced quite a number of characters amongst sport administrators within and without the borders of Botswana. Some, but not all, are characters who lack honesty and integrity, and are very corrupt, power-hungry football politicians, who think only of their personal interests and glory as opposed to the best interests of the sport. ‘Protecting The Game’ by Ashford is a must-read! *Rantao is, among others, the first Motswana to be appointed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), former chairperson COSAFA Statutes Committee, former chief arbitrator, BFA, former chief prosecutor, BFA.
This is the second and final instalment of Tshiamo Rantao’s review of former Botswana Football Association chief executive officer, and FIFA development officer, Ashford Mamelodi