Matengu was included in the squad at the eleventh hour to replace Township Rollers' shot-stopper Barolong Lemmenyane. It was only reported on Friday morning that Matengu had travelled with the squad to the Great Lakes region. Interestingly, in the 18-member squad released by the technical team on Thursday, Matengu's name was not on the list. During the executive committee meeting held on Saturday, Fighters' officials are reported to have taken the Botswana Football Association (BFA) to task for not bothering to inform them. It was decided that the committee would write to the BFA, seeking explanation as to what led them to take Matengu without their knowledge.
In an interview with Mmegi Sport yesterday, Fighters' manager Molatlhegi Mangole said that they were angry at the way the BFA handled the whole affair. "How can they take our player without our consent? It's really bad because the association will make it difficult for us to control our players. They never seem to learn because recently there were reports that one of their employees took players to Cyprus without the knowledge of the clubs," Mangole told Mmegi Sport. He appealed to the BFA to communicate with clubs in the future if they need the services of their players. He further said that it was disappointing for the BFA to have sought the services of Matengu yet they had abandoned him after suffered a knee injury. "BFA does not account for injuries of players, which is not good," he said.
By yesterday, BFA technical director Sikalame Keatlholetswe was at pains to explain why his association did not inform Fighters about the goalkeeper's inclusion. When pressed further he claimed: "I gathered that on Wednesday morning, the coach asked that Matengu be included in the team. The final decision of who travels with the team lies with the coach but if Fighters was not informed, it's an oversight, which we regret."
But Zebras' coach Colwyn Rowe distanced himself from reports that he was the one who decided to take Matengu at the expense of Lemmenyane.
"There was a problem with the two goalkeepers (Matengu and Lemmenyane) and maybe the FA should be in a better position to explain. There were a number of things which didn't go well but I'll leave it to the administration," he said.
But reports reaching Mmegi Sport indicate that Rowe was apparently unhappy about events before departure for the Rwanda encounter, which Botswana lost 1-0.
Rollers' publicity officer Kaizer Sekaba said that they were still waiting for the BFA to explain to them as to why Lemmenyane was dropped from the travelling party. "The move is likely to affect the player and the team since he's currently our number one goalkeeper," said Sekaba.
