BFA and women soccer officials smoke peace pipe

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Thursday November 20, 2008 00:00

The delighted Sesinyi said BFA officials behaved very professionally in the meeting in explaining issues to them. He expressed hope that this is the beginning of good things for the women game. At the centre of the dispute was the failure of the BFA to sponsor the women soccer league last year. Clubs demanded an explanation from the BFA and threatened that they will not take part in this year's league if they are not given money. The clubs wanted BFA to use the FIFA grant allocated to women football to finance the league.

Sesinyi said they were always under the impression that the money was for the league but BFA explained that it is for development. Another thorny issue was the recent dissolution of the WFC by BFA. Clubs complained that the manner in which the whole issue was conducted was unprofessional and not transparent.

The BFA has since given women soccer a chance to furnish them with names of the people they want to be included in the commission and those that they want out. Sesinyi said the BFA chief executive officer, Tosh Kgotlele promised that from now on, he would work closely with women football officials. She was happy that at the end of the meeting, it was the women game that won. The league is expected to start soon and there are reports that this time it will have a sponsor.

Agreement Podi of Double Action is partly satisfied with the BFA explanations. He said they agreed on some things and disagreed on others. However, he said he sees light at the end of the channel. Podi understands that the FIFA grant is for development but suggests that since women football is at an infant stage, the money can be used to finance the league. He said they will be happy if BFA can work on the names on the list they have submitted to them to include in the WFC. Podi said the problem of BFA officials is that they want to act without consulting women soccer officials.

BFA's Tshepo Mpukuthi said the main issue was prize money for the league. He said BFA supported the league financially in the past two years but made it clear that it was a temporary arrangement. He said they could not sponsor the league last season because they did not have money. He said women football had many activities in the past year that consumed a lot of money. He stated that the BFA and the women football officials never had differences. They only had a misunderstanding. Mphukuthi said there are a number of issues that the BFA need to look into before the league starts.