Fingers point at BFA after botched SA deals
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday February 5, 2019 12:50
The players had already agreed on 30-month deals with the South African side, but the move fell through at the last minute.
While the BFA denies, the charge, it is reported that the mother body failed to confirm their international clearance just before midnight on January 31, 2019, as the BFA's designated administrator had knocked off at 5pm on deadline day. Earlier on Tuesday, Rollers' public relations officer, Bafana Pheto said he was not aware that the deal fell through.
'It is news to us. We are not aware of any situation pertaining to the players' move to South Africa. The BFA could be in a better position to tell you more because they are the ones who handle paper work whenever a player moves abroad. From what we know they have completed the move to TS Galaxy and we have since de-registered them, and we have since signed on new players to replace them. I will double check with the general manager, he handles these issues on a daily basis, but I doubt that there is space left because we have exhausted our 25-player limit with the new signings,' he said.
BFA spokesperson, Tumo Mpatane was said to be a in a meeting when contacted for a comment, but was earlier quoted as saying the clubs had slept on the job.
Galaxy's Tankiso Morake's mobile number went unanswered.
The local window is still open until Friday, opening a possible return for the three.
Former Botswana Premier League chief executive officer, Bennett Mamelodi explained that the BFA was supposed to stay late in anticipation of any transfers before the midnight deadline on January 31.
'The BFA designated administrator knocked off at 5pm as usual, totally unaware of any possible transfer. Rollers issued clearance letters on time to TS Galaxy who have valid contracts with the players concerned. On January 31, at around 10pm, TS Galaxy uploaded the necessary information on the Transfer Management System as required by statutes. By 11pm, Rollers had responded confirming the transfer.
'What was then supposed to happen was for BFA to verify on the same system and for SAFA to confirm. All this had to happen before the 12 midnight deadline,' Mamelodi explained. Mamelodi said the remedy would be for TS Galaxy to lodge an appeal with FIFA, through SAFA, for condonation. The three had signed 30-month deals with the South African side and may be loaned back to Botswana clubs until the next transfer window.