BNSC boss blasts politicians on FIFA saga

Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Friday July 11, 2014 12:13

 

“I wish to express concern over the manner in which the matter (constituency tournaments) has now been taken out of context and regrettably it seems to be owned by others who are not really involved in sports administration now. This is a sport administration issue and it should be left in that context for sport administrators to deal with,” Reikeletseng told journalists yesterday. He said the current state of affairs has the potential to adversely affect discussions on the matter with key stakeholders. Recently politicians have been engaged in accusations and counter-accusations following FIFA’s ultimatum to Botswana to run the constituency tournaments through Botswana Football Association (BFA) or face sanctions.

The tournaments were started by President Ian Khama and are run by the government despite protests from BFA. After a lengthy lull, FIFA sent a delegation to Botswana this year to investigate the matter and then issued an ultimatum that has caused a political war between the opposition and the ruling party. This has forced Reikeletseng to tell political parties to stay away from trying to gain political mileage in a sports matter, which can be dealt with by sports administrators.  FIFA has given Botswana up to September 22 to make sure the tournaments are under the BFA otherwise the country risks suspension from football activities.

“We will be irresponsible as sports leaders to have caused Botswana to be suspended by FIFA. We would have failed as sports administrators and not government if that happens and we will not allow that to happen,” Reikeletseng said. He said the BNSC and BFA have met to forge a common front on the issue.  He is confident that the matter will be solved soon. He said FIFA is being briefed and is happy with progress. He said the sports leadership in the country is capable of solving problems and will deal with the issue accordingly.

BFA president, Tebogo Sebego has said that when the issue of institutional teams arose some years ago, it was resolved amicable by sports people.  “We will also find a solution to this issue,” he said. He said constituency tournaments are not a problem but they have to be structured in such a way that they do not contravene FIFA statutes.