TAFIC concedes defeat to BFA
Chakalisa Dube | Friday January 29, 2021 15:47
TAFIC had appealed the decision with the Arbitration Committee which, however, upheld the mother body ruling.
The BFA Arbitration said the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) acted appropriately by ending the league in March in a bid to curtail the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). After the tribunal upheld the BFA NEC decision, TAFIC had an option of appealing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
However, TAFIC chairperson, Tebogo Toteng who took over office in December, said after thorough introspection the club has decided it is not worth it to appeal.
“One of the grounds for not appealing is that the Premier League does not have a solid sponsor. It would be worthless to fight to stay in a league that does not have a sponsor while we do not have money to run the club at that level,” Toteng said.
“The new executive also felt that it would be wise for the team to go to the First Division to rebuild itself. At the moment the team does not have strong structures and systems to compete in the Premier League,” Toteng said.
Toteng’s comments cement reports that some TAFIC diehards had long accepted BFA’s initial decision, with the only resistance coming from the previous committee, which was led by Carlos Sebina.
Toteng added that the club risked losing huge sums of money by lodging an appeal at CAS.
TAFIC would have to pay the cost of their appeal to the BFA Arbitration. The BFA Arbitration has ruled that TAFIC should bear the administration costs of the tribunal and fees for the arbitrators. The arbitration is yet to furnish the club with the exact costs of the appeal.
The BFA NEC took a decision to end the 2019-2020 season with 10 games remaining arguing that it would be costly for teams to play in line with COVID-19 guidelines. As a result of the decision, TAFIC along with Miscellaneous and Molepolole City Stars were relegated, while Jwaneng Galaxy were declared league champions. TAFIC had argued the NEC did not have the powers to stop the league.