Champions League exit a blessing - Shah
Mqondisi Dube | Friday December 7, 2018 13:05
Shah said their exit would mean they do not incur costs, in a financially demanding tournament, which only starts rewarding in the group stages.
Last season, Rollers created history when they became the first Botswana team to reach the group stages of CAF’s flagship competition.
But despite pocketing P5.5million, Shah said the team incurred losses.
“Our exit will not affect us financially. In fact it will save us. It costs so much money to participate in the tournament,” he said. “Last season, we did not receive support from the BFA and the BNSC. So, we are better off (without the competition).” Rollers’ earnings were eroded by CAF fines, over television rights.
This week, Popa were surprisingly dumped out of the competition by Lesotho side, Bantu FC, 4-2 after penalties in the preliminary round.
Rollers have been far from their fluent best, and are struggling for goals.
“There is nothing wrong, you can see that we could have won by a wider margin in the first game. We were unlucky. Now it looks like there is a single goal curse. We are not converting,” Shah said.
Regarding coach, Rudolfo Zapata, Shah said they had engaged the Immigration and Labour authorities in a bid to expedite the residence and work permits applications. But he is not expected to be on the bench until the New Year.