The unending Botswana Football League (BFL) saga has taken a fresh twist after shareholders locked offices and sent employees on a three-day leave.
The move comes as shareholders, opposed to BFL chairperson Nicholas Zakhem, held a meeting at Lekidi Centre this morning to deliberate on recent developments. On Monday, Zakhem issued a statement announcing CEO Senzo Mbatha's contract has lapsed and therefore, would not be renewed. But today the shareholders issued a counter statement, indicating they disagree with Zakhem's announcement.
"The BFL shareholders are disappointed with the recent media statement issued by Mr Nicholas Zakhem on behalf of the BFL board regarding operational issues of the league. The BFL and the BFA (Botswana Football Association) have been in ongoing discussions to normalise the corporate governance at BFL, especially after the recent resignations of the board members, which resulted in a board collapsing as it is no [longer] quorate as per the BFL constitution," reads the statement.
The shareholders said they had met on Sunday to normalise the BFL board and agreed that names would be proposed to complete the board as per the constitution.
"In a surprising move on Monday, February 26, Mr Nicholas Zakhem went on his own to make announcements regarding the non-renewal of the CEO's contract, which was neither the board nor BFL shareholders' decision," the shareholders said through the statement.
"It is against this background that during the BFL shareholders' consultations, a decision was taken to grant all staff at BFL, a three-day leave to allow shareholders and the board to resolve the board issues, including the status of the operational team at BFL," the shareholders added.
However, the shareholders promised that all BFL programmes including matches will continue as normal. Reports are that the BFA president, Maclean Letshwiti had ordered the shareholders to re-open the premises, but they remained resolute.
Letshwiti then vowed to engage with Zakhem over the issue. The drawn-out BFL saga has raged on despite football receiving one of its biggest sponsorship deals in recent years. Last week, First National Bank of Botswana announced a P54 million deal for the league and the women's team, the Mares.
