ECCO deny courting Changwe

Chakalisa Dube | Thursday February 6, 2014 15:15

Current ECCO coach Atshele Molapi will be given a role as one of the assistants at the club, a position he has held at the club in the past.  

Mmegi Sport has learnt that Changwe is currently attending a relative’s funeral in Zambia.

'He is due to take over at the club upon his arrival, which is anticipated to be next week.

'Everything has been agreed in principle that he will join the team when he arrives from Zambia,' an insider at the club said on Sunday.

It is also reported that Changwe, who recently left Orapa United under unceremonious circumstances, turned down a lucrative offer to coach an unnamed premier division club in Swaziland in favour of a job at ECCO.

Changwe recently refused to discuss his reported move to ECCO, referring all inquiries to the club management.

Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that the club is planning to ditch Molapi after a string of poor performances this season.

The former league champions have endured torrid form this season and currently occupy an unfamiliar 10th position in the beMOBILE Premier League table.

In a recent interview Molapi said that the reason for the club’s poor form was because of lack of seasoned players. He also said he was willing to continue working with the club in whatever role he was given.

However, Mmegi Sport has established that Molapi was not being given an assistant role as a result of the club’s poor performance. It is because his employers, Botswana Meat Commission (BMC), recently revealed that they would not release him early to train the team or give him a waiver to miss work when travelling to matches.

BMC used to avail time for Molapi to train the team and travel to matches while still backing the club last year before pulling out.

Molapi works in the BMC’s demanding production department.

Yesterday, ECCO chairperson Mothibedi Lathang dismissed allegations that they were in talks with Changwe. He also shot down talk that the club intended to give Molapi an assistant coaching role.

'It is just speculation. What I understand is that BMC has informed us that since they have pulled out from funding us and will not avail Molapi to do club duties when he is supposed to be at work.

':We sat down with the coach and discussed the issue raised by his employers and he agreed that we can at any time look for a coach or someone to head the technical team. “We, however, cannot look for someone to head the technical team or coach now because we do not have money. We will compromise and work with Molapi for now,' explained Molapi.