"They may have taken advantage of the confusing correspondence from the secretariat by insisting that they wanted to play at the UB Stadium except, of course, Nico United, but then I have no evidence that they were acting in bad faith. It would just be mere conjecture on my part to make that unwarranted finding of fact," Rantao said. He said the four teams were confused by messages from the Premier League secretariat and the media. He said any disciplinary action against one or more of the teams involved or their officials in their capacities as such was unlikely to succeed. "The chaos that ensued just about kick off time was therefore a natural result of what transpired during the week. It would therefore be a desperate attempt on my part to hide the truth by placing the blame on the shoulders of the teams for this," he said.
The report reveals that BPL general manager, Phuthego Setete suggested to chief executive officer, Bennet Mamelodi on May 2 that fixtures approved by the board the previous day ought to be changed. His reason was that Mochudi Centre Chiefs had played more games than any other side at UB Stadium, which is viewed as the most profitable venue. Chiefs had already played five times at the stadium while Township Rollers had played three times there. The report further reveals that Mamelodi asked Setete whether the practice of amending fixtures, as secretariat even after board's approval was normal, to which the general manager responded in the affirmative. It is said Setete did not raise the issue at the board meeting since it came to him as "an afterthought". The amended fixtures were then sent to the teams as well as the media. Mokganedi Molefe, the chairperson of the board then confronted the secretariat saying it had no right to change the decisions of the board. "According to him, if the board has approved the fixtures, no one is entitled to reverse or vary it, as the secretariat had done. For that reason he instructed them to write a fresh letter on May 4, reversing the earlier one of May 2 and reverting to the fixtures approved on May 1 by the board," the report says. Mamelodi then acted on Molefe's instruction and wrote letters to the teams involved. According to the report, efforts were also made by the secretariat to have teams receive the letter with last minute telephone calls made. "Generally the teams maintain that these back and forth changes per letter and calls caused confusion," Rantao's report reads. He added that Setete insisted that the secretariat is not to blame because it is normal practice to amend fixtures including venues depending on the exigencies of the situation without having regard of the board.
