Botswana Football Association (BFA) has appealed to FIFA to postpone the submission of its 2016/17 audited financials to the football world governing body.
According to BFA Second Vice President, Pelotshweu Motlogelwa, the association asked for the postponement in order for the financials to be approved by the BFA Annual General Assembly (AGA) in July later this year.
Should FIFA approve the BFA request, the association will then not have to call for a Special General Meeting to discuss the financials but would then present them with the 2017/18 financials at the AGA.
“We asked for the waiver for FIFA to release grants to the association while still awaiting audited financials. It has to be remembered that FIFA can only release grants to associations once they have submitted audited financials, hence the request for a waiver,” he explained.
Motlogelwa said while they would have liked to present the current financials to the assembly for approval, financial constraints are making it hard for them to convene a special General Assembly.
“As an association, we are running low on funds and for us to convene a special general meeting, we need at least P500 000. We will then have to convene an AGA in July which will cost us the same amount, thus draining our already meagre resources even further,” he explained.
Asked whether the financials have been completed, Motlogelwa said the FA auditors have long finished and submitted the finished audit report to his committee.
“The finance committee has looked into the audited report and have approved it. As is the norm, it was also passed to the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) and they have also approved it,” said Motlogelwa.
The BFA second vice president further added that the report was presented to the NEC by himself as the Finance Committee chairman during its meeting which was held on 17 November.
“I am hopeful that in the next coming week or two, I will present the report to the Audit and Compliance committee, who will run a fine comb through it,” he explained.
Asked what happens if FIFA rebuffs the BFA request for a waiver, Motlogelwa said the association will have no choice but to convene a Special General Assembly.
“It is an expensive exercise to undertake but we will then have no option if FIFA refuses to give us a waiver,” he said.
Although the audit report is yet to pass through the audit and compliance committee, Motlogelwa has reiterated that he is very optimistic the report will be approved.
In the build up to BFA’s last Annual General Assembly (AGA) where he was supposed to present the association’s audited financials, allegations were making rounds that Motlogelwa and some people within the BFA would be forced to quit following some irregularities in the association’s financial reports.
“I have nothing to hide and I am very confident the financials are in order. In fact, I want to move the BFA National Executive Committee to allow for the media to be present throughout the presentation of the report so they can bear witness to the authenticity of the report,” he said.
Motlogelwa dismissed the allegations that there was something fishy in his committee’s failure to present BFA financials at the past AGA.
“The truth of the matter is that we had to consolidate all BFA financials for the year. This includes financials of other structures of the BFA, among them the Botswana Premier League, First Division, Women Football as well as Regional Football Associations (RAF),” the BFA second vice president explained.
