Chiefs take only 11players for Rollers tie
Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Thursday August 11, 2016 13:55
Chiefs are without substitutes and fans hope that this time the game will be concluded.
Chiefs chairperson, Ernest Molome said they will just play the game for the sake of football since they have only managed to raise 11 players for the match.
“We only have 11 players and that means we will have not have any substitute. So whoever gets injured, we will try and convince him to stay on until the game ends. The association is clearly fighting us but we will play for the sake of football,” he said.
The match attracted controversy right from the start with the first one scheduled for beginning of June postponed by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) on the last day.
It was then re-scheduled for July where it also failed to produce the league winner after Chiefs failed to secure adequate players.
The match was played for just over 30 minutes before it was called off after an injury to Chiefs midfielder, Arnold Mampori.
Following the decision by the Botswana Premier League (BPL) to re-schedule the match this afternoon, Chiefs queried the timing of the match was not suitable for them. The match is scheduled to kick-off at 4pm.
Chiefs had argued that preparations for such games need time and requested that it be moved to another day. Club spokesperson, Clifford Mogomotsi on Tuesday had revealed they had informed the BFA that it will be difficult to prepare for a game of that magnitude within 48 hours.
They said the game should have been scheduled to another day within those 10 days as stipulated by the BPL DC. But their request was turned down.
Rollers on the other hand have said they have always been ready for the game since their preparations for the new season had long started.
“We are ready. We do not have a problem with the game being played within 48 hours after the ruling because that 48 hours falls within the 10 days,” Rollers spokesperson, Bafana Pheto said yesterday.
He said they have no problem with the date of the match as it also does not affect their trip to Lesotho. Rollers leave on Friday to play two friendly matches against Lesotho sides, Matlamo and Bantu on Saturday. They return on Sunday.