Football fraternity celebrates Chilisa's life

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Friday June 14, 2013 00:00

Born in 1949, Chilisa died in the early hours of Sunday. He was described as a straight talking administrator whose passion for the game was second to none.Speaker after speaker hailed Chilisa's immense contribution to the development of football in Botswana for close to 40 years. Chilisa served the game in many capacities since starting Sharps Electrical Football Club in the early 80s, then an employee of Sharps Electrical.

He went on to serve as the chairperson of First Division South for many years. He was at the helm of the league when it still had Gaborone's big clubs Gaborone United and Township Rollers. At the time of his death, he was a member of the BFA's National Executive Committee (NEC), chairperson of the South East region and also the chairman of the regional chairpersons committee. On several occasions he was the head of delegation for national teams and at some point he was also the head of security for the senior team. He was also tasked with organising First Division Play offs, a task he was still to do when he passed on.

Speaking at the memorial service, Tebogo Lenao, a representative of Regional Football Associations (RFA) said the late Chilisa was a distinguished hard worker who devoted most of his life to developing soccer. He said Chilisa had a keen interest in regional football development and just like the rest of the soccer fraternity, they have lost a great man. Former BFA president and current Member of Parliament (MP) for Shoshong Philip Makgalemele said Chilisa was a hero' whose life in football needed to be celebrated. He said the late Chilisa served the game with utmost loyalty and deserves a memorial in a form of a football infrastructure named after him.Both current and past immediate BFA presidents Tebogo Sebego and David Fani were united in word hailing Chilisa's immense contribution during their tenure at the helm. Fani, who worked with Chilisa during his two terms, said the late would not agree to a principle he did not believe in and would never flinch.

He said Chilisa worked endless hours in service of football and would not mind waking up in the middle of the night, or early morning if he was needed. He said Chilisa was a visionary whose ideas helped in countless difficult situations the association often got in.Sebego said he had always admired Chilisa's passion for the game from a young age until he became BFA president, and often looked up to him for assistance.He said in addition to his passion, he also had the interests of the regions and BFA employees at heart. Just last month, Chilisa went to Francistown where members of the Francistown Regional Football Associations (FRAFA) had resigned en masse.

He convinced them to return to office and they did. Former BFA CEO and FIFA development officer Ashford Mamelodi described Chilisa as a passionate football administrator who wanted nothing but success for the game.He cited an incident when the Zebras were the 'whipping boys' of African soccer, and Chilisa came to his office pleading with him to consult traditional doctors to help the team win, something he, Mamelodi was against, but ended up agreeing with Chilisa. Chilisa will be laid to rest tomorrow at his home village of Ndongola, between the villages of Sebina and Nswazi.