Chiefs to continue Zebras boycott
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Thursday August 13, 2015 18:00
The demand follows Butler’s alleged utterances that Magosi’s midfielder, Lesego Galenamotlhale did not deserve to be crowned last season’s Player of the Season award.
Butler was quoted in one of the local newspapers saying he thought Township Rollers midfielder, Segolame Boy instead deserved the award ahead of Galenamotlhale.
The comment followed calls by some supporters for the inclusion of Galenamotlhale in the national team.
The coach had indicated that although he rated Galenamotlhale highly, he could not call him for the first leg of the COSAFA Senior Challenge since he had Ofentse Nato and Lebogang Ditsele in the squad. He, however, stated he would consider him in the future.
Chiefs did not take kindly to the comments over Galenamotlhale and challenged the BFA to take action before they could release their players for national duty. Butler has since called up Galenamotlhale, Lemponye Tshireletso and Kekaetswe Moloi for camp ahead of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier against Burkina Faso on September 5.
However, Chiefs’ spokesperson, Clifford Mogomotsi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that their position has not changed. He said they would not release the three players until they received something concrete from the BFA.
“The CEO (Kagiso Kemoeng) has promised to do something about the issue, so we are waiting for correspondence from them.
“We had a board meeting at the club and we have since agreed that this can be reversed as long as the BFA does something about it,” he said.
BFA president, Tebogo Sebego acknowledged receipt of the complaint from Chiefs regarding the issue and stated that they took the complaint seriously.
He said Chiefs as a member of the association have every right to lodge a complaint if they feel aggrieved on anything.
He said they have initiated processes to deal with the matter although the BFA CEO would be best suited to reveal how far the issue is. BFA CEO, Kemoeng was said to be locked in a workshop at the time of going to press.
Meanwhile, Chiefs are close to signing former Township Rollers midfielders; Lesego Molemogi and Dirang Moloi.
“We are still negotiating with the two players and nothing has been concluded yet. Hopefully, that can be sorted out soon before the transfer window closes,” Mogomotsi said.
The two players went for trials in Asia in the pre-season, but nothing materialised. Rollers goalkeeper, Mwampule Masule has joined BDF XI on a season long loan.