Sebego guilty of fanning factionalism
Dennis Keagile | Thursday October 23, 2014 15:51
His campaign team led by Tariq Babitseng talked ill about the then president, David Fani, saying he had reached a cul de sac and as such, has lost the capacity to reform the association or bring about meaningful change.
Fani was accused of promoting factionalism and having his favourites who he always rewarded handsomely by way of appointments.
In one interview, Sebego talked of just seeing a mirage saying some of the successes of the Zebras were a fluke or owed more to luck than anything.
Well, some things are easier said than done. The Friends of Football as the Sebego and his allies branded themselves, tried to convince all and sundry that they aim to bring real change and do away with favouritism or cronyism.
But today, the BFA is a Libya-like state of affairs as there are just too many militias - all of whom want to control the association.
First to bolt out of the stable was Segolame Ramotlhwa together with the likes of Horatio ‘Chipa’ Mahloane who were behind Sebego.
Of late, Sebego and his vice president for administration, Tariq Babitseng are in one corner,l while the other executive committee members belong to a different group.
To make matters worse, there is the BFA technical director Ben Kgomela who the association hired against the advice of the world football governing body, FIFA, which felt he was not the right person for the job.
What then really went wrong with the revolution promised by the Friends of Football? Sebego is guilty of promoting factionalism and cronyism, which he spoke vehemently against during his campaign.
The executive is badly divided and so is the technical wing. As a result, each militia is fighting hard to bring the other down.
The loser is Botswana football.
The reported verbal exchange between Zebras assistant coach, Keitumetse ‘Pio’ Paul and Kgomela is just one of a long list of factional battles and back stabbing which seem to be gaining prominence within the association.
It would seem the reporting lines or duties/boundaries of the technical director are not clear.
Apparently the Zebras technical team feels Kgomela is overstepping his boundaries as it is alleged he sometimes holds meetings with players without the consent of the head coach.
There is need for Sebego to show leadership and rise above the factional battles or rather be the principled person he has always appeared to be, otherwise chaos will reign supreme in the association.
The controversy surrounding the lack of bidding for the 2017 AFCON Cup is all due to the division within the executive as some accuse Sebego of only confiding in Babitseng who is said to be the blue eyed boy of the president.
There is need to have a frank discussion between the technical director and the Zebras technical team.
Being technical director does not mean that one automatically supervises the national team coaches.
The heightened tension at BFA was not there between Sonnyboy Sethibe and Stanley Tshosane when they were technical director and Zebras coach respectively.
All over the world, the position of national team coach is a stand-alone post and the technical director acts as an adviser of the association on issues of development and training.
As for the day-to-day management of the team, the technical director need not get involved lest he be conflicted.
In the current feuding at BFA, where is the professionalism and discipline? I do not expect senior officers to argue in the stands like ordinary fans no matter how they feel about certain issues.
Pio Paul was appointed against the wishes of many people including Kgomela.
Paul may feel people are trying to build up a case against him to deny him the post of Under-23 head coach.
Under the new policy and structure, the assistant coach of the national team automatically becomes the coach of the Under-23 side so as to maintain continuity and uniformity.