Referees unpaid from last season
Staff Writer | Friday July 20, 2018 14:09
BPL chief executive officer, Thabo Ntshinogang confirmed that match officials were still to be paid dues from last season.
“Indeed the referees have not been paid their full dues. We will pay them before the start of the season,” Ntshinogang said yesterday.
The BPL has faced a constant headache over referees’ payments over the last few season.
The problem could worsen in the new season with the broadcast rights deal moving into a cashless two-year phase.
Ntshinogang recently said the money from the television deal, aided them to pay the referees.
“It is going to be tough without the broadcast rights money,” Ntshinogang said recently.
Yesterday, he said they will source money to clear the arrears, which reportedly emanate from the last eight fixtures of the season.
“There are a couple of entities who owe us, so we will pay them from those coffers,” he said, refusing to disclose how much the whistle men and women, were owed.
Sources said referees once again find themselves having to go for months without pay, a situation that has become a common feature. It is feared that the match officials might demand that the arrears are cleared before they take to the field for the new season next month.
The Botswana Football Association (BFA) national executive committee met in Gaborone last night where the issue of referees’ payment was expected to be discussed.
The association is expected to come up with a durable solution to the persisting problem.