Botswana Premier League weathers the storm

| Wednesday December 22, 2010 00:00

 

Rollers/Santos' row over playersAlmost in every transfer window, there are scuffles over some players, especially the top ones. The last transfer window was no exception. Township Rollers and Uniao Flamengo Santos were embroiled in a tussle over two Santos' young players, Mogakolodi Ngele and Thato Bolweleng.

Rollers wanted to sign the two players who had also shown interest in joining the national champions. Santos reported Rollers to the Botswana Premier League (BPL) disciplinary committee (DC) for attempting to recruit their players without their (Santos') consent.

The two players on the other hand reported Santos to the Players' Status Committee (PSC) for blocking their move to Rollers.

BPL DC found Rollers guilty and were handed hefty penalties including deduction of points and suspension from recruiting players for two transfer windows although the sentences were suspended for two years. Santos banned the two players from football until the issue had been settled. The pair have since withdrawn their case from PSC and are back with their team, Santos. The issue seems to suggest that the local football authorities still have one or two things to learn before they can consider this league turning professional. The issue of some of the big sides poaching some players from other clubs has been going on for sometime now. BPL has to be congratulated however for coming up with a disciplinary committee that solely deals with matters of the Premier League. We no longer see even some small cases dragging for a long time as evidenced by the Rollers/Santos' case, which they settled very quickly. Some see the punishment given to Rollers regarding the matter as stiff but some believe it is a step in the right direction if the Premier League is to avoid such cases cropping up every time the window opens. 

Aborted Premier League AssemblyThe Botswana Premier League (BPL) General Assembly had to be adjourned in July due to late delivery of audited financial statements and unavailability of minutes from the previous assembly.

The meeting came to a halt immediately as the incumbent Premier League chairperson, Mokganedi 'Mike' Molefe, asked the delegates to adopt the agenda, which included, among others, a report by the BPL general manager, Setete Phuthego, and appointment of a new committee by the league's board of governors.

The majority of delegates who included team chairpersons and publicity secretaries would not adopt the agenda demanding full audited financial reports and minutes from the previous assembly.

Led by former Botswana Football Association (BFA) vice president Segolame Ramothwa, the delegates argued bitterly that it would be unconstitutional to appoint a new committee before the previous one had submitted the financial reports for scrutiny. Molefe then assured the delegates that the reports were there, but had only arrived from the auditors, KPMG, on the same day.

That did not go well with club chairpersons who wanted time to go through the report first.

Phuthego said it was disappointing that the assembly could not go ahead as scheduled because it will be taxing to set it for another date. Delegates, who came from as far afield as Selebi-Phikwe and Francistown felt hard done by the decision to adjourn the meeting. No one in particular was held responsible for the collapse of the meeting. He gave the excuse that there was no assembly last year and that that was why there were no minutes. This was disappointing of the BPL considering that delegates had travelled from all corners of the country for a non-event.

This should be a mistake never to be repeated. BPL finally held their assembly in Palapye towards the end of the year.

Rollers crowned championsTownship Rollers ended a five-season drought when they clinched both the be MOBILE Premier League title for the season 2009-2010 and the Coca-Cola Cup. The last time Rollers won the league or any major silverware was in 2005. The arrival of Rahman Gumbo at Rollers, who came with a big reputation, changed the fortunes although some had doubts about his capability in his first season at the club in which Rollers finished fifth.

Rollers set a trend in which they brought in Professor Onyewadume as a physical trainer. His role was appreciated by many coaches, including David Bright, who coaches at a professional set-up. Bright at the time said Rollers' players were above all in terms of fitness. Rollers are still sitting at the top of the league table despite losing some key players like last year's record breaker, Terrence Mandaza to Platinum Stars in South Africa, Itayi Gwandu to arch-rivals, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and coach Gumbo to Chiefs.

GU/Santos in CAF competitionsGaborone United (GU) and Uniao Flamengo Santos both took part in the just-ended CAF competitions, by virtue of their status as league and Coca-Cola Cup champions respectively. Although Santos bowed out in the first round of the Confederation Cup, the nation can take pride in the fact that GU were on the verge of reaching the group stages. Even though they struggled at home, GU proved their worth against some of Africa's top sides including Orlando Pirates, whom they knocked out in the preliminary stage.