After being suspended for about seven months, the Chief Executive Officer of the Botswana Football Association (BFA), Mooketsi ‘Tosh’ Kgotlele, has finally been fired.
It appeared as if he had not been informed prior to the time the BFA called a press conference to announce his sacking.
Kgotlele told Sunday Standard that he was not surprised by his sacking because he was always the target of witch-hunting. He said the BFA had always been looking for a way of getting rid of him.
“First and foremost there is no concrete proof of the allegations leveled against me but the next thing I am fired. If indeed I committed a crime why couldn’t they take me to the courts for me to face the wrath of the law; this is definitely unbelievable,” Kgotlele said, adding that he was surprised it took the BFA about a month to investigate him.
“Why did it take a month for them to come to me and say I have done something wrong? This definitely shows that these people wanted me out. The current administration of the BFA is putting factions’ interests before football,” he said.
Kgotlele also added that since the national team coach was also the one at the center of the bribery allegations, he should also have been suspended pending the BFA investigations. But that was not the case.
Kgotlele said that the big issue in the allegations against him was money but they cannot prove that it exchanged hands.
The former Notwane official stressed that his name has been dragged in the mud and this coming week he will call a press conference where he will clear his name.
“My credibility has been dented and I have to clear it. Before the end of this coming week I will clear the air to the media because I cannot just sit and watch people falsely accusing me.”
According to Kgotlele, the team that was appointed by the BFA to question Kgotlele leaves a lot to be desired. He said one of them is Fani’s long time friend with whom he shared a room during their student days at the University of Botswana.
He did not rule out taking the BFA to court, saying he was still seeking legal opinion and would then take it from there.
Kgotlele was at the centre of controversy last year when the Zebras went to play a friendly game against China where they lost 4-1. He is alleged to have received a lump sum of money to fix the game in favour of the Chinese. The money was reported to be in the region of P600 000.
Upon arrival in China, two men are alleged to have approached the Zebras coach, Stanley Tshosane, with the money but he refused to accept it. The men who enticed the coach with the money are alleged to be connected to Kgotlele.
