Rollers� Peace Key For Football

Monitor Editor | Monday February 8, 2016 15:17

The message was unequivocal. Few had given peace an opportunity with violence expected to overwhelm a club that had grown weary of internecine wars in the last three years.

But the Rollers family showed maturity befitting the stature of one of the country’s biggest sides. The vote proceeded without major glitches and critics were served humble pie as Rollers went someway in patching their battered image. There were reports that a certain disgruntled section still wanted to pursue some issues in court. That has not come to pass and it is our hope the hatchet was finally buried at the annual general meeting.

Rollers are an undoubted institution in football and when they sneeze, 15 other be MOBILE Premiership teams catch a cold. Their pulling power has been unrivalled in recent seasons as Popa has emerged as the Botswana Premier League’s cash cow. It was imperative, therefore that the devastating wrangles had to end sooner. Normalcy had to return sooner.

The weevil that nearly destructed the most successful club in the country should not be allowed to penetrate further into other clubs.

Worryingly, we see a similar trend at Gaborone United and Mochudi Centre Chiefs.

Clearly, certain regulations have been overtaken by time and are out of sync with the demands of modern football. Instead, they hinder progress and are catalysts to the unending squabbles enveloping clubs today.

The matter of Societies has been debated at length and clearly the future of football lies elsewhere. Investors such as Jagdish Shah should be protected rather than being harangued and their names wantonly dragged in the mud. Such regressive actions can only plunge Botswana football back into the dark days.

Transformation should be embraced and the Botswana Football Association (BFA) as the mother body, must be at the forefront.

We cannot afford to be ambiguous in our quest to professionalise football. Societies and privatisation are like oil and water and the sooner we address the increasing anomaly, the better for football. Football is no longer a pastime but a sector critical to employment creation. We therefore, have to be equal to the task