Why Gunners� deal collapsed - Ghodrati
Thato Kala | Thursday June 12, 2014 13:15
Ghodrati said yesterday that he backed out because he felt the proposed deal did not protect his business interests.
“There were a few areas that we did not agree on in the contract; it was more than one issue. We went back and forth but in the end we did not agree,” Ghodrati told Mmegi Sport. He said that one of Gunners’ demands was related to monetary issues.
“If it (an agreement) is not there to protect both parties, then I would not advise anyone to go into it. Both parties have to understand and share the same vision in terms of operations, but that was not the case,” he explained.
Ghodrati stated that Gunners had at some point shut-out BMC manager, Nelson Radijeng from the new structure after the merger.
“They had certain reasons, but towards the end, they agreed he was good for us. But that was a minor issue. The bigger issues were in the contract,” he explained.
He dismissed talk that Gunners were against the idea of bringing 12 players from BMC, saying they had agreed on the issue.
Gunners’ chairman, Kitso Dlamini is on record saying a certain clause that was initially in the Memorandum of Agreement was excluded from the final contract. He said the confusion was later cleared and they were prepared to move forward. However, the Ghodratis somersaulted saying there was a clause they were not comfortable with. Meanwhile, relegated Serowe side, Miscellaneous XI will still keep BMC’s spot in the be MOBILE Premier League despite the collapse of the Ghodratis commercial partnership negotiations with Gunners.
While negotiating with Gunners, Ghodrati gave BMC the Premiership slot to Miscellaneous.
On Monday, he confirmed the name change application had been forwarded to Botswana Football Association (BFA). The association is yet to confirm sanctioning the move that would rescue Miscellaneous from relegation and First Division football.
Ghodrati said the name change is already with BFA and they had no intentions of reneging on the deal with the Serowe side. “The Miscellaneous name change is already with the BFA,” he said. He is not decided whether to take up Miscellaneous’ slot in the First Division.