Some teams in the Hukuntsi Regional Football Association have fingered football politics as behind the suspension of Lehututu Golden Arrows from all Botswana Football Association (BFA) activities.
The team was slapped with an 18 month suspension by the regional association following a meeting held on the 25th of this past month (April). In the communiqu├®, which is erroneously dated 23/04/2018, the Hukuntsi Regional Football Association said the team is suspended for failing to honour a league fixture against eventual league winners Sand Diamonds on April 05.
Lehututu, who were called alongside Emabuzwa Red Lions and Lokgwabe Desert Lions for ‘the meeting,’ were suspended in absentia after failing to turn up for the meeting.
Coupled with not honouring a league fixture, the failure to turn up for the meeting proved to be the final nail on the Arrows coffin as they were accused of disrupting the ‘league process.’
“In this matter we took the decision in the play rules and regulations Article 14, 15 to suspend your team club Lehututu Golden Arrows football club for 18 months effective from 1st May 2018, in this matter you advised that your team will not supposed to take any part in BFA activities or tournaments,” so reads the letter.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source close to the matter said the whole suspension is an elaborate scheme by the regional association to ensure they reduce the number of clubs likely to vote against the region’s current chairman Mokgolele.
“Sometimes at the beginning of this year, we called out the BFA to help resolve the problems in the region as the Regional bloc and the region had failed to resolve them. When the BFA took long, we resolved we will not honour the league until such a period our problems were resolved and wrote to all including the BFA of such an intention,” the source revealed.
“However, as the league started we got a hint that behind all this was an elaborate plan to suspend us so that we could not vote against Mokgolele, who is facing being voted off as the Hukuntsi regional football chairman. We then hastily decided to go back and honour the league fixtures to foil the plan,” the source said.
Following the return of the teams to the playing fields, the source revealed that the Hukuntsi Regional association then wrote a letter to three of the teams dated 28th April calling them for a ‘meeting’ and not a hearing at YOHO offices on the 28th .
“At the last minute, the Region switched the venue from YOHO to Agriculture offices and Golden Arrows were not informed. By the time they figured out where the meeting was, the meeting had been finished and a decision had been taken to suspend them,” the source said.
“This led us to suspect that this was a deliberate plan to ensure that the team is suspended and numbers of potential clubs that will vote against the incumbent Hukuntsi Regional association are reduced as well as to threaten other teams ahead of the elections,” the source said.
Attempts to reach out the Hukuntsi Regional Football Association failed to bear fruit, as its Secreatry General Thatayaone Bok did not answer his mobile or respond to a message from this publication.
Attempts to get a comment from the BFA Chief executive Officer (CEO) Mfolo Mfolo also failed as he said ‘he could not comment on the matter,’ but did not elaborate.
