Chobe United Appeal Dismissed
Koketso Kgoboge | Monday September 18, 2017 15:28
The matter, heard on Thursday, will pave way for the start of the First Division North League that was delayed due to the case.
Chobe will play catch up in the Ngamiland’s Division One that kicked off three weeks ago. The team had felt unfairly treated when asked to play a relegation decider against Great North Tigers, following issues concerning their abandoned fixture with Morupule Wanderers last season. The DC had rendered Chobe’s case time barred on regulation 10.1.3 of the BFA Play Rules and Regulations which state that appeals should be lodged in writing within 10 days after the decision of the lower body.
Chobe felt hard done by the decision and took the matter further to the Appeals Board, which also poured cold water on the case. BFA compliance officer, Tumisang Hule confirmed the conclusion was a dismissal of the appeal with a written judgement to be delivered in due course.Chobe United vice president, Nelson Letiho said they were not in a position to comment on their next move until they get the written judgement.
“We are waiting for our representative to get back to us and give us feedback,” he said. “Until we have a written judgement, then we will meet as the Chobe United leadership and study the outcome before we can announce the way forward.”
The matter had brought the northern second tier league start that was scheduled for a September 9 kick off to a halt.
First division north secretary general, Rapula Gaotlhobogwe said since the matter is laid to rest the league will commence with immediate effect. “We have lost ground to our southern counterparts who are in week three, but we are confident we will catch up,” he said. “Our fixtures are ready, the next step is to reschedule the dates and our league will start this weekend on September 23. We are still on time and we believe we will finish on time,” he said. He said the confusion was caused by lack of understanding of the Play Rules and Regulations and advised clubs to be more informed.
He warned that in future stringent measures will be taken against club administrators who trample on the football rules.
“We will be meeting (north league committee) to see if football was not deliberately brought into disrepute. But we advise clubs to read more and understand the guidelines of football. This sort of matters should not be causing confusions that affect the beautiful game.”