Broke BPL in P3m debt
Mqondisi Dube | Friday July 8, 2016 14:54
The debt arises from unpaid suppliers who ironically include sponsor, beMOBILE’s parent company, Botswana Telecommunications Limited (BTCL), over a telephone bill. Others include Emergency Assist, club grants, car hire and accommodation service providers among others.
Acting BPL board chairperson, Rapula Okaile confirmed the debt.
The return of chief executive officer, Bennett Mamelodi also presents the football organ’s top hierarchy with a fresh headache.
The BPL is keen to get rid of him, but it is too broke to buy him out of his contract.
“They have no money. Even if the intention is to buy him out, the BPL is broke. The (BPL) board would want him to face a hearing, but remember that was stopped by the courts. They wanted to go ahead with a forensic audit, but that too, cannot proceed as there is no money,” a source said. Premier League sponsor, beMOBILE, had reportedly offered to fund the audit, but has since indicated it cannot.
Okaile, however, said the audit, with or without beMOBILE’s assistance, has to proceed. “There has been a leadership change at BTCL, but that does not stop the audit, it has to go ahead. That is very important,” Okaile said. Mamelodi’s future will largely hinge on the findings of the audit after the board cited maladministration as one of the reasons for the suspension.
Again, Mamelodi’s return is not cast in stone after the BPL board begun efforts to block the move.
BFA president, Tebogo Sebego had written to the BPL to reinstate Mamelodi, but the BPL convened a meeting yesterday to discuss the matter. “I will respond soon after the (BPL) board meeting,” Okaile said before yesterday’s meeting. He argues that it is not up to the BFA, but the courts to determine Mamelodi’s future.
“As far as we are concerned, the instruction should be coming from the courts and not BFA, which refused to grant us the power of attorney in Mamelodi’s case,” he said, which effectively means the matter will rumble on.
Okaile said the BPL could emerge from its financial quagmire if the BFA was to agree to a co-sponsoring arrangement. For some reason, the BFA has been reluctant to visit a clause in the current agreement with beMOBILE, which allows for co-sponsoring, Okaile said.
“We can get another sponsor, which is not in direct competition with beMOBILE. But the BFA has been reluctant to approach beMOBILE and take advantage of a co-sponsor clause,” Okaile said.
But BFA chief executive officer, Kitso Kemoeng said they are in talks with the sponsor and cannot rush issues. “The sponsor has written to us, we are in dialogue. We actually requested a meeting with the sponsor. Dialogue continues, we can’t be rushing issues. We have to know how we got where we are,” Kemoeng said.
On the Mamelodi issue, Kemoeng said the NEC took a resolution (to reinstate) and there were Industrial Court deadlines to be met.
“The NEC took a resolution and the resolution had to be communicated to our attorney. There were time lines in as far as the industrial court was concerned,” Kemoeng said.