After Rollers split, Sebata push ahead with Lions
Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday July 8, 2025 14:28
Although as of last Thursday, Botswana Football League chief executive, Bennett Mamelodi, indicated that no formal registration or notice had been received from the new club, Black Lions, are pushing ahead with preparations. The team is under Sebata Holdings, which, up until recently, was part of Township Rollers' investment arm. However, there was an acrimonious split, with the company arguing there were certain contractual breaches, which Rollers denied. After Rollers, South Africa-based Sebata Holdings is keen to continue with football investment in Botswana after reaching an agreement to buy out VTM's Premiership status.
Sebata Holdings media liaison, Nqobile Ndlovu, told SportMonitor that they are in the process of concluding the necessary process to be able to compete in the league next season. The BFL has already released the draft fixtures for the 2025/2026 season, which kicks off next month. 'Black Lions is a club that is currently finalizing registration with the league. The aim is to participate in the next season,' he said. 'We are registering a new club because we had some challenges with regards to the model and how we wanted to run the previous club. The aim with this one and the reason for going this route is that we will have full control to make proper and full executive decisions that we believe will be in the best interests of the club,' Ndlovu added.
He refuted the belief that Sebata Holdings was at Rollers for profits, but said their new venture with Lions is proof of their intentions to be part of Botswana football development. 'This serves to debunk any myth that made it seem as though the aim was a profiteering motive concerning the previous club. The aim was always to grow the club and be a valuable member of the football association, but the way certain things happened restricted us from being able to do that fully; that is why we decided to go this route,' Ndlovu said.