Botswana Football Association (BFA)’s Lekidi corridors will not be used to fight team or politically motivated rivalries. Those are the words of the associations’ president Maclean Letshwiti.
Speaking in an interview with Sunday Standard, Letshwiti said in his administration, all teams would be treated equally and justice disbursed expeditiously.
Of late, concerns have started cropping up that the Lekidi hallways have become the latest battle ground for the big teams.
The concerns were expressed by some administrators who felt that team rivalries between the country’s ‘Big Three’ teams, namely Township Rollers, Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Gaborone United had been taken to Lekidi.
“The rivalries between these three teams are threatening to tear down Botswana football. They have taken their battles off the field of play and into the BFA corridors,” one administrator, who commented on condition of anonymity opined.
However, these fears were allayed by Letshwiti, who said he will not allow any political or team rivalries to tear down the foundations of the BFA he is working hard to rebuild.
“I want to warn you, there will be no monkey games in my administration. If you are wrong you will get punished,” Letshwiti said.
“It does not matter whether you are Chiefs or Rollers. If anybody is wrong, it will not take weeks, within a week judgment will be made,” he continued.
According to the BFA President, he has now set up the judiciary structures made up of credible people to deal with matters.
“I have very good judiciary structures to deal with everything. Nothing will come to the BFA, they will be duly dealt with at the structures,” Letshwiti said.
Letshwiti further explained that under his administration, football politics will not be allowed nor entertained.
“I am not going to pay attention to politics and neither am I going to allow any politics in my administration. It is either you are aligned or you go out. There is no two ways about it,” he warned.
Letshwiti then reiterated that as he promised during his campaign trail, he will not even allow those who campaigned alongside him to derail his vision of the BFA.
“I know that not everybody can conform. There are one or two people who are not performing, so it is a question of whether they want to be with us or not. So sooner or later you may hear stories. One or two people have to go because they do not fit,” Letshwiti said.
“I still maintain that we are not going to carry a baggage. It is either you are with us or not,” he concluded.
