Shah promises financial stability at BPL
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday March 16, 2018 12:01
“In the BPL there are so many areas where we need to achieve. (It) may be the players’ welfare, the teams’ welfare, the financial sustainability or the sponsorship criteria.
There are so many areas but for me in this period, my first and foremost target is how I make it more sustainable financially. Most of you know that every dream can be achieved when you have a strong back pocket, so in these three months I am going to work on how to make the secretariat (financially) strong enough, so they don’t keep worrying about the day to day financial problems,” he said.
Shah further said the BPL’s long lasting goal to be autonomous could only be achieved when there is a strong financial background.
He however admitted that he lacks knowledge in the running and governance of football in the country.
The Township Rollers’ president was appointed last weekend after a consultative meeting between the league board members and the Botswana Football Association legal team.
Shah fills the void left by former BPL chairperson, Rapula Okaile who resigned from the post early last month. Shah’s appointment raised a lot of eyebrows over his legitimacy since the post is reserved for chairpersons of clubs.
According to the BPL vice chairperson, Solomon Mantswe, the BPL board unanimously nominated Shah but due to certain constraints, they were forced to seek legal advice before his appointment.
“He (Shah) has been sitting in our meetings as a proxy in the absence of Rollers chairman.
He is very knowledgeable person when it comes to the business aspect of running the league. I, as his vice, will assist him in the governance part of running football,” he said.
Shah ascends to the position at a time when Premiership teams are battling financial constraints with the hardest hit being bottom-placed Gilport Lions who parted ways with 14 players in December.