Botswana Football Association (BFA) president, David Fani, must be told point blank that what is happening at his office is not funny.
For quite a long time, Fani has been feeding us scary reports of the likelihood of Botswana being suspended from the world football governing body, FIFA, as a result of President Ian Khama’s pet project, the so-called constituency tournament.
Fani has always been giving us the impression FIFA was fuming over government’s involvement in football matters through the constituency tournament. He has never missed an opportunity to disclose his displeasure, and indeed that of FIFA, over the constituency tournament. He has always been consistent in his disdain for this politically motivated and populist initiative by President Khama. Arriving from a FIFA congress last year July, Fani told the media that “FIFA has strengthened the provision in its statutes relating to interference in football matters by third parties”.
He made that statement in reference to the constituency tournament which, in his view, validates FIFA’s concern over interference by third parties in football matters.
Mmegi newspaper captures Fani’s speech, which he delivered at the BFA General Assembly and I shudder to believe Fani was lying to the delegates when he said, “I would like to add that, in the intervening period, FIFA has pronounced that the constituency tournaments breaches FIFA statutes. The view of FIFA has been communicated to government. The NEC is fearful that if the matter is not resolved quickly, FIFA might impose sanctions against BFA.”
Many of us bought into his story and sympathised with his organisation over what we deemed government’s stubbornness in their refusal to cease running the tournament or, at least, hand it over to the BFA.
A lot of BFA regions across the country had voiced out their discomfort with the constituency tournament and this led to the BFA reporting to FIFA.
The BFA had told the nation that government was not willing to do away with the constituency tournament. This gave a lot of people reason to sympathize with Fani and the BFA. Fani seemed so convinced that government was interfering in football matters and he appeared so determined to have FIFA rescue BFA from the ‘bully’ government.
Fani’s woes were not helped by the fact that the constituency tournament that he was so much fighting against was not just a government initiative but the brainchild of the all powerful ‘Rraetsho’ Khama. It was, therefore, almost a given that Fani was destined to lose the battle.
Fani, as president of the BFA, stood no chance against the president of Botswana. It was also almost improbable that Fani would have any backing from the Minister of Youth and Sports, Shaw Kgathi, whose only words to Khama could be ‘Yes, Sir’.
Enter Boyce Sebetela!
Barely two months in office, the BFA Vice President has turned the tables on the BFA.
Smiling and nodding to almost all of Minister Khathi’s salvos as he told the media of how the BFA was full of lies, Sebetela took the cue and lambasted his organisation.
Sebetela told of how his organisation had misled FIFA and the nation. Sebetela and Kgathi painted the BFA as an organisation led by deceitful people who have no shame in lying to FIFA.
According to what they told the media, the letter that was sent to FIFA reporting the government was written by a junior staffer who had no business, let alone the skill, to write such a letter. Fani is also portrayed as irresponsible for not checking the contents and indeed the tone of the letter before it was dispatched to Zurich.
Fine, it could be true Fani’s administration misled FIFA but how ironic that it had to be Boyce Sebetela owning up to the lies when he was not even there when the lies were sent to FIFA.
If, like we are made to believe, the BFA has admitted to misleading FIFA, it is therefore only plausible that Fani was best suited to be the one admitting to the purported lies.
Why did the Minister wait for Fani to be outside the country and hastily convene a Press briefing that borders on tainting Fani’s integrity. Why did it have to be Sebetela defending Khama’s project?
I mean, this is the same Sebetela who is always on Btv defending Khama’s policies and, as such, it came as no surprise that he was at it again.
Prior to the Press briefing, Minister Kgathi had been quoted in newspapers boasting that the constituency tournament was here to stay.
Would I be malicious in thinking Kgathi’s confidence was borne out of what he had been ‘cooking’ with his party colleague, Sebetela? It is not farfetched that Sebetela was tasked to insure that the BFA loses the battle to avert a situation where the President’s project would have been halted. After all, who is Fani and the BFA to embarrass and frustrate the President’s initiative?
It is up to Fani to clear his name if what Sebetela and Kgathi said about him is not correct.
As it stands, the nation and FIFA view Fani as dishonourable and irresponsible. We look at Fani as a man who has no shame discrediting his government at such a powerful and influential body like FIFA. Rumours doing the rounds say the BFA was under pressure to go back on their accusations of government interference.
Apparently, the BFA was warned to remember where it’s bread is buttered. The government feels that by virtue of its funding of the BFA, government is entitled to dictate terms to the BFA.
If, indeed, Fani wants us to believe he never lied to FIFA, he should then come out and tell his side of the story.
Fani should not be intimidated or scared to counter Kgathi and Sebetela’s accusations.
If indeed Fani misled and believes he misled FIFA, he should still come out in the open and apologise for causing the nation so much unrest. Fani should tell us if he shares the same view with Sebetela who believes the BFA was economical with the truth when dealing with FIFA.
It is also important that FIFA carries out independent investigations and not only rely on contradictory statements from Fani’s office. It could be possible that BFA’s latest confessions were a result of political pressure. It could be possible that BFA was made to embarrass itself and save the President from the embarrassment that would have come with the cessation of the constituency tournament.
As far as I’m concerned, it would not have hurt if government allowed the BFA to run the constituency tournaments but government won’t budge because by so doing the limelight would shift from the President to the BFA.
I urge Fani to be man enough and admit that he lied to FIFA or expose Sebetela and Kgathi if they are the ones who lied at the Press briefing.
There is no way both Fani and Kgathi’s statements could be true.
One of them is not telling us the truth. I cannot wait to find out the liar.
