The Chairman of the Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Disciplinary Committee (NDC), Mmoloki Keganne, has quashed rumours that the first judgment in the appeal case between Gilport Lions and Township Rollers concerning Ofentse Nato was pre-written ahead of the hearing.
Following two marathon hearings that went on till the late hours of 20th of last month, the NDC thereafter delivered an eight page long judgment on the case between Township Rollers and Gilport Lions.
In the aftermath of the judgment, rumours started surfacing that the judgment of the Gilport Lions versus Rollers appeal was pre written.
Speaking in a recent interview with The Telegraph Sports, the NDC Chairman said the committee had to deliver an ‘ex tempore’ judgment, hence they had a written judgment almost an hour after the final hearing. “You have to remember that on the day, the hearings started at 1730hrs and we had two appeals to hear. From the moment the hearing began, we started building our judgment hence we were able to have a written judgment almost immediately after the hearing had ended,” Keganne explained. He said in such a scenario, from the moment the hearing between Rollers and Gilport started, the NDC started jotting down facts of the case, while putting question marks on certain points that needed to be looked at. Asked why the same was not done for the more urgent case, being that between Chiefs and Rollers, the NDC Chairman said the NDC took into consideration the fact that the case between the two clubs was more complex compared to the one between Lions and Chiefs.
“In cases where the issue is not so complex and can be written in less than ten pages, the Judge can deliver an ‘ex tempore’ (at the time) judgment. However, if the case is complex and needs more than ten pages as was with the one between Chiefs and Rollers, time is needed to make a decision hence the judgment is reserved,” he explained.
On the question of whether the NDC, (which comprised of, among others, Messrs Billy Sekgororoane and Dumi Mmualefhe, as well as Ms Bomolemo Selaledi,) was well acquainted with football matters to deliberate fairly on the matters before it, Keganne said between them, they had enough experience to deal with any matter.
“When adjudicating on a matter, all you have to look at are facts. Whether you are dealing with case resolutions in law or any other industry, a fact is a fact and that is what you have to find. The same applies in football matters. You have to find facts and deliver judgments based around facts,” Keganne concluded.
