The Botswana Football Association (BFA) Emergency Committee (EC) and the First Insistence Body (FIB) are headed for a collision.
The latter has allegedly informed the BFA EC they will not sit and deliberate on its pleas for mercy to the five relegated teams which failed club licensing.
FIB is said to have made its stance known immediately following the association’s media briefing a fortnight ago. At the briefing, the BFA chief executive officer (CEO) Mfolo Mfolo announced the association will plead for mercy on behalf of the five relegated teams. The five are Extension Gunners, Morupule Wanderers, Masitaoka FC, Eleven Angels and Mogoditshane Fighters.
According to sources, the FIB believes the matter now lies with their masters at CAF, not the BFA EC. They are adamant they do not report to the BFA EC but to CAF. Their belief is that neither the BFA EC nor the National Executive Committee (NEC) have authority on the matter. The FIB allegedly insists BFA EC should send their pleas to CAF. Only then can they act with instruction from CAF.
Sunday Standard Sport has it on good authority that following Mfolo’s announcement, ‘FIB made it clear they will not convene and adjudicate on the matter they have already ruled on.’ “Their integrity will be at stake. They will never be trusted and it will be gross unprofessionalism on their part,” a source within Lekidi says.
The FIB allegedly believes that since they have notified CAF of their decision, their hands are tied. Now, only CAF and not the BFA emergency committee, can instruct them to reconsider.
“Before the BFA NEC had even given instructions for the FIB to reconsider, they (FIB) had informed the BFA EC that if they are aggrieved by their ruling, they must appeal it to CAF,” the source said.
With the FIB having made their stance known, the BFA is alleged to have found it difficult to give them an official instruction on the BFA EC decision. In fact, by Friday, the IFB had allegedly not received any correspondence from either the BFA or CAF on the matter.
According to the sources the FIB heard it through the media and social media platforms that the emergency committee met and resolved that they meet to hear the case again. “They are just waiting for BFA to formally inform them and refuse,” said the source.
On the 13th September 2022 BFA emergency committee met and resolved to extend the club licensing application submission deadline to five relegated teams. The extension is for a period of five working days from the 14th September, 2022 to 20th September, 2022 at 5pm. Each team’s application shall be accompanied by P15 000.00 being a review fee. The emergency committee also resolved and instructed FIB to convene on the 21st September, 2022 to consider the applications and deliver its decision by the 22nd September 2022.
“The FIB will not compromise its mandate and integrity by acting on something unlawful. The matter went to Appeals’ Board and there is no how it can come back again to FIB as junior committee to Appeals Board,” explained sources at BFA. It said the FIB found it bizarre for the BFA to fight on the side of the teams when the teams are the ones who are supposed to be fighting the matter.
