Less than a year in his role, there are reports that Extension Gunners’ chairman, William Maboane, is a frustrated man and wants out. Since he was elected in absentia at their July congress held at Peleng Community Hall in Lobatse to lead the Gunners’ ship, there are people within the family who have been against him.
It has been the most miserable 11-month period for the Gunners’ boss. Maboane was met by resistance from some Gunners’ committee members within months into office when some questioned his leadership style. They accused him of wanting to run Gunners like a one-man show. It is his decision to introduce e-ticketing at all Gunners’ home games which won him few friends.
Recently, six of the committee members are said to have stayed away from the meetings he called. It is only Oduetse Langoane who turned up for the meetings at Oasis Motel in Tlokweng and Wimpy in Gaborone, something which, according to those close to Gunners’ camp, is a sign that Maboane is not wanted.
Maboane is said to have held a meeting with Gunners’ supporters’ branch chairmen to inform them about the developments at the club, including the sabotage from his committee members. Things turned for the worse the previous week when some ‘outsiders’ told the players not to attend training sessions in a bid to oust Maboane. The players obliged and have not trained for two weeks now. It was only on Wednesday that 14 players reported for training with the exception of senior players.
The Sunday Standard has established that Gunners’ players have not been paid for at least two months and none of the committee members has bothered to explain the situation to them.
“The situation is bad at Gunners and things need to be changed with immediate effect. Some members of the committee are sabotaging the chairman because he is a man of principle. He’s one man who wants everything to be accounted for and that’s something which people do not want. What is more painful is that some of the committee members are using the players to sabotage the chairman. If the players are owed two months salaries, it is the responsibility of the whole committee,” said a source.
Speaking from Oodi, some kilometers outside Gaborone on Friday morning, Maboane tried to claim ignorance to reports that he was a frustrated man. He claimed that he has received unwavering support from his committee members.
“The truth of the matter is that this is not my team. I cannot expect to lead it forever. You must understand that we’re all volunteers and I cannot always expect a full house during our committee meetings,” said Maboane. The Gunners’ boss said that the club does not belong to him and if there are some people who want to take it to the higher heights, they are welcome to do so. It is reported that some people have come together and raised funds which are intended to run Gunners.
But Maboane cautioned that whoever wants to take charge at the club, he or she must come with long term strategies, which would be able to sustain the club.
“I want to believe that if we fail, we fail as a committee. We had the potential to take Gunners to higher heights with the initiatives we had but we failed to implement them,” he said.