Gilport, BMC impasse sparks fresh crisis
Mqondisi Dube | Thursday November 24, 2016 16:07
Lions directors had said they complied with a directive to hand over the team back to the BMC committee. They said the team was therefore under the BMC committee which should take immediate control.
But former BMC committee chairperson, Sonny Phiri said he was not in a position to discuss the issue when contacted for comment yesterday, only saying there are meetings over the matter and could only respond today.
On Tuesday, Phiri told Mmegi Sport it was premature for the Botswana Football Association (BFA) to ask them to take charge when a lot still has to be done. “We were waiting to meet the BFA national executive committee (NEC) over the issue because there is a lot to be done before we can be asked to take responsibility. First of all, there has to be a change of name. We are currently also not registered with CAF, FIFA or even BFA itself. There are issues of club licensing which have to be taken care of as well as being inducted by the BPL. As we speak, BMC has no registered players for this season,” Phiri said.
Lions insist the team has now been handed over to the BMC committee after it had challenged the club’s transfer to the Ghodhrati family. Lions director, Kelesitse Gilika also refused to comment on the issue, saying it is before their lawyers. He instead referred Mmegi Sport to the BFA, but the association was not immediately available for comment. The acting chief executive officer, Susan Lawrence was said to be in a meeting while president, Maclean Letshwiti was attending a funeral.
Meanwhile, Mochudi Centre Chiefs were left disappointed after Lions failed to turn up for the Tuesday night fixture.
“We are disappointed but there is not much we can do since it’s internal Gilport issues. We had prepared for the fixture. We believe that what happened could have been avoided,” Chiefs spokesperson, Clifford Mogomotsi said.