TAFIC case: Chiefs could be in trouble
Mqondisi Dube | Friday June 15, 2018 12:23
The response has been overwhelming, with most people dismissing the challenge as wishful thinking.
Chiefs has also laughed off the TAFIC’s challenge, instead urging the Francistown side to spend more time preparing for life in the First Division.
But TAFIC, relegated at the end of last season, has remained steadfast, arguing that it will not withdraw its case until a satisfactory conclusion has been reached.
While most have already dismissed the TAFIC case before it has been heard, a legal guru knowledgeable in football matters has warned Chiefs might be in trouble.
“It is a tricky case. A Trust and a Society are two different entities. To me, that is the starting point of the enquiry into whether or not there is compliance. I do not know the facts, but it boils down to this crucial issue in my view. It might as well mean that Chiefs is not compliant. It looks serious from a statutory point,” the legal expert said.
In their letter to the Botswana Premier League (BPL), copied to the Botswana Football Association (BFA), TAFIC lawyers, Mhizha Legal, argued that Mochudi Centre Chiefs Sporting Club had failed to affiliate to the BFA. Chiefs, according to TAFIC, paid affiliation through the Trust and not Sporting Club.
“However, in this instance, it is not the sporting club that paid but rather a completely separate entity beings its Trust,” the lawyers said. TAFIC, therefore argued that Chiefs’ participation in the league last season was null and void.
“It is a matter of fact that the sporting club has not and did not affiliate. It is also trite in law that a society and trust are two completely separate entities with their own legal standing and therefore cannot be considered to be one and the same thing.”
The case is expected to provide a litmus test for the BFA, and possibly throw the start of next season into turmoil if it drags further.
BFA chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo, speaking from Moscow, Russia, said his office had not received TAFIC’s complaint. TAFIC’s lawyers had sent the case to the BPL, which in turn, directed the club to the BFA.