National volleyball sides threaten boycott
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 18, 2019 11:30
The players last received payments in January 2017, which were for invoices for up to October 2017. This means from November 2017 to date, the players have not been paid their P1, 500 monthly allowances.
Some players, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said they were sick and tired of empty promises and believed boycotting training will force authorities to listen to them.
The men’s team captain, Phenyo Thebeng said they always approached the Botswana Volleyball Federation (BVF) over allowances and the feedback was always disappointing.
“They always inform us that they do not have money. That is demoralising, especially to senior players. The situation is better for younger players as they are excited about the national team call-up,” he said.
Thebeng said they expect things to get better this year because the team has many activities.
BVF spokesperson, Kagiso Meswele admitted that they owed allowances from November 2017 to date. He said normally players were paid after every three months.
“Each player is supposed to receive P1, 500 per month. It is a struggle to pay the players, but it is not our fault. The BVF submits requests to the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) who then credit our bank account,” he said. Meswele said it would be unfortunate if the players decide to boycott the training camp. He said if push came to shove, they would be forced to bring in players who were willing to serve in the team.
He said at the moment, the BVF bank account was empty and they did not know when they would receive the payments.
The national team is expected to go into camp at the end of this month to prepare for the Olympic Games and All Africa Games qualifiers. Meswele said they were still waiting for Zone Six to release the dates for the All Africa Games qualifiers.
“We should compete in the region before heading to the All Africa Games, which are scheduled for September in Morocco,” he said.
The team is also preparing for the Olympic Games qualifiers.