Familiar incident leaves elite league embarrassed, again
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Tuesday September 1, 2026 09:55
The game was officially called off few minutes after kickoff after the visiting side, Popa, was left with only six players on the field, following an injury to one of the players. Rollers had travelled to Jwaneng with only seven players for the match, after receiving a fresh FIFA ban ahead of the opening FNB Premiership matches this past weekend.
The troubled side had been slapped with a FIFA ban, barring them from registering new players as a result of unpaid wages to former head coach, Aziz Karkarche.
Last week, Rollers released a statement confirming that the matter has since been resolved after settling the debt.
However, they were hit by a fresh FIFA ban instituted by former players, Thabo Mokenkoane and Ntambwe Wafauna Djo who played for the team during the 20254-2025 season.
“Township Rollers Football Club has already engaged legal representatives of the respective players and is actively working towards settling the outstanding debts,” the club said in a statement.
“The club remains committed to resolving these matters amicably and within the shortest possible time. The club would also like to confirm that it has settled the first FIFA ban instituted by coach Karkarche, bringing that particular matter to resolution,” it added.
In the same statement, Rollers also expressed confidence that the outstanding issues will be laid to rest in few days’ time.
After receiving a fresh FIFA ban, reports emerged that Rollers had appealed to the Botswana Football League (BFL) to have its fixture against Galaxy postponed to a later date.
Rollers’ plea was rejected, prompting the club to carry only seven registered players to the match.
This has once again put the game in the spotlight, denting both the image of the Rollers and that of the BFL. There have been fears that the game, which has struggled over the years to get financial backing could further put potential sponsors away.
The incident is not the first of its kind to hit the elite league, although the circumstances leading to the two incidents are different.
In 2016, following a long-standing boardroom wrangle over the registration of former midfielder, Ofentse Nato, Mochudi Centre Chiefs also brought seven players to their play-off match against Rollers.
Before the match, Chiefs had argued that they had only seven players on their books after releasing most of the players, believing that their season had concluded, before a play-off match was sanctioned, to determine the league winners.
In the first half of the play-off match, one of Chiefs players at the time, Arnold Mampori suffered an injury, forcing the match officials to call off the match. The incident left a huge dent on the image of the Premier League and the Botswana football for a long time.
The weekend incident has ignited fears not only potential sponsors could shun the elite league, but also affect the attendance of upcoming Premier League matches.
By the time of going to press, the BFL were yet to determine the way forward regarding the incident.