Violence, TAFIC exit mark dramatic weekend
Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday April 15, 2014 15:57
Rivals fans clashed at the New Lobatse Stadium shortly after GU took the lead early in the second half. The Reds won 2-0 to burst Gunners’ bubble. The Lobatse side had claimed the scalps of two title contenders, BDF XI and Mochudi Centre Chiefs in successive weeks, only to get a thumping from GU. Now Gunners is likely to face action after the violence.
Already, the Premier League office has accused Gunners fans of ripping seats at the National Stadium when they beat Chiefs the other weekend. Botswana Premier League (BPL) chief executive officer, Bennett Mamelodi said the prosecutor is assessing the match report.
He said they have been forced to move another potentially explosive tie between Gunners and Rollers to Selebi-Phikwe. It was initially scheduled for the New Lobatse Stadium.
“There was an incident of crowd trouble and it will be irresponsible for us to fixture the Gunners-Rollers game at the New Lobatse Stadium,” Mamelodi explained. While admitting that there is no assurance that the Selebi-Phikwe Stadium will be safe, he said they had run out of options.
As Rollers take on Gunners, other title chasers, BDF XI, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and GU will be in action and this has limited the BPL’s choice of venues. “Rollers should play at the same time as other title rivals and we were therefore left with no option but to settle for the Selebi-Phikwe Stadium,” Mamelodi said. Meanwhile, TAFIC were officially relegated from the Premier League on Saturday following a 3-1 loss to Rollers. It took only nine minutes to seal TAFIC’s fate with two from Kobamelo Kebaikanye and Sekhana Koko. He added a second and his team’s third in the second half after some brilliant work by giant South African, Manqoba Ngwenya. TAFIC scored a late consolation goal as they prepare for the tough life of the First Division.
The race for the title remains too close to call as all four contenders recorded victories over the weekend. However, Rollers have the advantage of a three-point cushion with two games remaining. They face Gunners and FC Satmos in their last assignments.