Teams shun filthy dressing rooms
Chakalisa Dube | Friday August 21, 2015 18:00
The latest weekend incident saw Township Rollers players trooping into their bus instead of the changing room, at recess during their clash against Nico United in Selebi-Phikwe on Saturday.
Their coach, Mark Harrison and his technical team had to address players inside the bus as fawning fans gawked at them. This is not the first time. Last season during a league clash in Selebi-Phikwe, the then Rollers coach Madinda Ndlovu addressed the players just near the team’s bus in full view of the fans.
Mochudi Centre Chiefs are another culprits in the habit of shunning the Selebi-Phikwe and Francistown stadiums’ dressing rooms.
Still last season, ECCO City Greens players did not use the dressing room at the Serowe Sports Complex.
That was the time their buses were broken into. The players lost their belongings in the process, highlighting that not using dressing rooms leave players’ properties vulnerable.
The clubs have given reasons for shunning the dressing rooms, but top of the list is that the rooms are dirty. Apparently the clubs are caught between a rock and a hard place as exemplified by Chiefs spokesperson, Clifford Mogomotsi’s comment.
“The Francistown and Selebi-Phikwe facilities are the only facilities we have not used because they are often dirty.
“Using the bus as a dressing room also leaves the players vulnerable to attacks by supporters,” he said. He said the Premier League office is aware of their concerns with regards to dirty dressing rooms. Rollers secretary, Khumo Masonya shared the same sentiments.
The beMOBILE Premiership chief executive officer, Bennet Mamelodi said it is the duty of the owners of the stadium to make sure the dressing rooms are clean and up to standard.
“It has come to our attention that some of the teams do not use dressing rooms because they say they are dirty. “We are in the process of approaching stadium owners across the country to encourage them to begin cleaning the stadiums. “When we pay to use the stadiums, the payments include the cleaning of dressing rooms among others,” he said.
“We have to be proactive when it comes to dealing with challenges faced by the league if we want it to be a good product.”
Mamelodi warned that should any team be found not using the dressing rooms without any valid reason, they would not hesitate to take action against such a team.
“Not using the dressing room without any valid reason constitutes misconduct. Although it is not ideal for teams to shun dressing rooms, we have allowed teams to use their buses or open spaces because we cannot re-schedule fixtures simply because the dressing rooms are dirty.”