New twist in FIFa threat saga

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Friday September 17, 2010 00:00

 

Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, David Fani touched down from Cairo, Egypt yesterday and immediately added a fresh twist to the unravelling saga over the constituency tournaments. Fani said he was not informed about the media conference in which the Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture, Shaw Kgathi said in the presence of senior soccer officials that the BFA misled the nation on the constituency tournaments vis-ˆ-vis threats of sanctions from FIFA. Fani claimed he had not read media reports on Kgathi's address.

On arrival, he reportedly sought clarity on the issue from his vice president (administration), Boyce Sebetela who was among BFA officials who attended the media briefing. Fani told Mmegi Sport that he was not aware of the media briefing as he was away in Egypt.

'I was not aware that there was a press conference to discuss the issue. I am told the BFA officials were informed on Monday that there was a press conference on Tuesday,' he said.

Fani denied that FIFA had threatened to take action against BFA if there was no resolution on the constituency tournaments. This is despite the fact that he told delegates at the BFA general assembly that the country faces possible sanctions from FIFA over the tournaments. When reminded of what he said at the general assembly, he respondend: 'I will have to check my speech (delivered at the assembly'.

He said BFA's position on the constituency tournaments remained consistent and denied that they misled the nation. This is despite the fact that Sebetela affirmed Kgathi's statement at the press briefing that the BFA has written a letter of apology to the ministry for misinforming the public on the issue. 'I don't think we misled the public. We have been consistent in our position regarding the constituency tournaments and we are still discussing the issue with the government. I don't think did we (sic), at any point mislead the nation. We are prepared to explain what we meant,' Fani said. He added that he was saddened by what transpired at the media conference.

'There should never be a point where we are at variance with the Minister of Sports, particularly on the issue of football development. We expect that our interests should be the same,' Fani said.

Kgathi told journalists on Tuesday that the BFA had acknowledged that it had misled the nation on the constituency tournaments. He added that the BFA has apologised and the government will not pursue the matter. (See an excerpt of Fani's speech delivered at the general assembly on page 55).