Another one goes up in smoke; surely we don�t learn
Thuso Palai | Friday January 16, 2015 12:50
Team ownership in Botswana has always been a controversial, if not divisive issue. From the ownership ‘circus’ at Township Rollers, Gaborone United, Notwane and Mochudi Centre Chiefs, to the recent and already ended acquisition of BMC by the Ghodratti family, club ownership in Botswana has not been without drama. As much as we would want well off club owners to pump money in our teams and advance our football; to a large extent these acquisitions are riddled with deceit and a lot of dishonesty.
Over the past few years, Township Rollers, Gaborone United, Centre Chiefs, Notwane and BMC have been acquired by businessmen who brought renewed hope to the teams. Despite some resistance from some quarters, the Rollers, GU and Centre Chiefs acquisitions still stand, albeit without drama. To some extent, some have worked, some haven’t. The only one that seems to be without much drama is that of Gaborone United, while the others have been a ‘circus’. The Notwane acquisition by one Gift Mogapi was the worst of the lot, brought misery to the team and its supporters and ended even before it bore any fruits. It was a painful time for Notwane faithful, when they realised that they had been sold a dummy while they thought they had found a saviour.
The latest circus involves once Lobatse based Botswana Meat Commission Football Club. When the Ghodrattis took over BMC following a protracted, cumbersome process; some watched with hope and some with scepticism. Although I’m a fan of well off business people taking over clubs, I did not see this one surviving for long. The Ghodratti’s had a clear vision to make BMC a household name in local football and to compete for honors. From the onset, that was a tall order. BMC is one unfancied side in Botswana that struggles to attract even a few hundred fans to their matches. I just wondered how that made business sense for the new owners. Their Vision was to have a side that would play in the same space as the more fancied Township Rollers, Gaborone United, Extension Gunners and Centre Chiefs amongst others. They moved the club to Gaborone amid fan-fare. They brought in quality players and for a movement looked like they would compete in the market with the big boys. The new owners proposed a name change and all looked rosy. This was all with good intentions, but the foundation was never solid. And then the football politics started. Everything fizzled out.
As we speak BMC is at a cross roads and loosing personnel as fact as one blinks. The Ghodrattis have pulled out and the promise of bliss has fizzled out. Although they would deny it, it is near ‘things fall apart’. Although I wished otherwise, I always had a feeling that this arrangement was hasty and would fizzle out. The conflicts that besieged the takeover were never resolved and it eventually showed that indeed ‘too many cooks spoils the broth’.
This is another case of what started with good intentions fizzling out because of poor and uninformed execution. From the onset, there was uncertainty as resistance over the take-over eventually ended in court with spats all over the place.