Sladden, Tiptoe challenge Sankuyo promotion

MOSAH MOKGANEDI
Correspondent | Wednesday June 22, 2011 00:00

The two contend that Sankuyo's promotion was unprocedural and unconstitutional because the team took part in the promotional play-offs before finishing their league games, contrary to the constitution. The two clubs launched their case before the Disciplinary Committee (DC) last Thursday but have since been advised to take the matter up with the Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Executive Committee (NEC). The two clubs want Sankuyo promotion to be nullified and the promotional play-offs started all over again. Sladden representative Steve Mothata said when the play-offs started the hosting region told them that though the team had not finished the league the points that they accumulated were enough to give them the championship.

'We were not sure if a team could be allowed to play under such circumstances but when we sought clarification, the issue was taken lightly,' Mothata said. Mothata also blamed BFA for insisting that the play-offs be played when they were aware that Nhabe Region League was still in progress.  He said he is also losing hope of the success of their protest after being referred to NEC. 'We were pinning our hopes on DC to help us because they are an independent body,' he said. Mothata was also not happy with the presence of Regional Football Chairman's Representative (RFAR) chairperson Charles Chilisa at the Thursday meeting, saying he had an interest in the matter and was not supposed to preside over it. Nevertheless, he said they would continue to pursue the issue. For his part, Tip Toe representative Benedict Bayani said they were told that Sankuyo had accumulated enough points to win the league. 'But we realised that they had nine soft points and according to the constitution no team can win the league with soft points.

At the time when they took part in the play-offs Sankuyo had accumulated 65 points after playing 25 games while runners-up CTO had 51 points after 23 games. This meant that Sankuyo were supposed to play CTO or any team that would have finished in the second position at the end of the league to determine the champion. In essence Bayani said Sankuyo finished in second position. Bayani said they realised that Sankuyo were playing league games during the week and taking part in the play-offs at the weekend.

Nhabe Regional Football Association (NRFA) chairperson Kgato Motai said in previous interviews that they were forced to send a team to the play-offs because BFA had told them that the play-offs would start even if they did not send a team. He said because they feared losing out they just chose Sankuyo to represent the region.

Motai then blamed BFA for the late start and end of their league. He said because they did not have enough teams in both the Division One and regional tournament they asked BFA to allow them to combine the two leagues but their (BFA) response came after the other leagues had already started.