TAFIC cracks ahead of premiership start
Koketso Kgoboge | Tuesday August 15, 2017 16:13
The club experienced a management crisis recently when the technical manager Carlos Motaung, who was also responsible for luring the sponsors during their flawless first division campaign unceremoniously quit the club.
The problem of a management crisis is common at TAFIC particularly when they get to the top league and it was a similar problem that was associated with their downfall almost four years ago.
TAFIC returned to the top-flight debt free and Motaung along with the executive committee were applauded for the feat by the club’s elective general assembly and dully re-instated to lead the team on a second term.
However, the controversial appointments of first division north committee members Rapula Gaotlhobogwe as the club’s marketing manager and Onalenna Ditlhakanyane as the general manager rocked the Matjimenyenga boat and as a result Motaung quit.
Now the club is without a sponsor and the players have not been paid since the pre-season began mid June.
According to sources close to the club, players refused to train towards the end of last week demanding that they be paid.
“Since Motaung left, there are problems. He was the one running around to ensure the squad is happy. On Thursday, the players refused to train and they had to be addressed by the management and on Friday the numbers were also not convincing at training.”
The club’s spokesperson confirmed the players did not train, but denied they were on strike. He said the Thursday meeting with the management was scheduled. He also confirmed the club is working with a shoestring budget due to lack of sponsorship.
“No, the players were not on strike; they needed clarity on their payments and the management chose Thursday to give them that clarity,” he said, denying allegations of a strike. “Of course we don’t have the money, but our players understood our current position. We don’t have a sponsor and the league has not started. Obviously, there will be no sources of revenue at the moment.”
“Some of our players have also not signed contracts and we are still working on that, but in the meantime we have given them what we could afford and from our last contact they are okay with it.”
Kolola said their main unsettling point was the appearance fee from the Gaborone Mayor’s cup that is yet to be credited to the club. He said as soon as the money is paid, they will be able to pay the players while they continue sourcing sponsorship.