Chiefs Financial Situation Revealed To Supporters

Boitumelo Khutsafalo | Monday April 24, 2017 14:53

The club has been running under difficult conditions this season, which saw them nearly miss out on some fixtures.

Addressing the supporters on Saturday, chairman of the Trust, Raymond Tsheko revealed that the club owes chairman of the society, Ernest Molome P800,000. He said the club’s financial problems forced them to continuously beg for loans from Molome to pay for the players’ salaries since they cannot attract sponsors because of the infighting at the club.

Molome who has been credited with turning the fortunes of the club since joining the management team in 2006 has assisted the club through loans since last year. Following the internal bickering, which saw some members accusing Molome of embezzling the club’s funds, Chiefs according Tsheko have not been able to pay the players for three months now.

The situation has seen players boycotting training sessions several times in protest of unpaid wages. “The only reason they are still playing now is because we have tried to convince them several times of the looming suspension if we fail to honour any fixture. These poor players in the process risk their health honouring the fixtures without proper training done prior to the matches,” Tsheko said. He said their struggle to look for financial resources has been hindered by some members who continue to thwart their efforts over unnecessary differences. 

“As we speak, we are not even sure how we are going to travel to Maun next week for our next match. Gate takings have dropped and sale of merchandise is also low. Per month we cannot raise more than P70,000 but the wage bill of players is about P270,000 excluding transport and other logistics,” Tsheko said. He further told the members that this means the club has to find someone who can give them at least P200,000 every month if they were to be able to fulfil their obligations on players’ salaries.

“We are still asking Molome to assist us to pay the players until June; meaning if that happens, the debt will shoot up to about P1.4 million. But people still accuse him and us of embezzling the club’s finances. This club is not making any money.”

Molome also told the supporters that he would have to step aside because people are making serious accusations against him. He said the accusations despite lending his helping hand several times, are hurting his family. He said he has convinced his family to lend the club some money because of his love for the team and once wrote off a P1.4 million debt owed to him by the club.

 He asked the members to put their differences aside and map the way forward for the club to return to its glory days.