A trail of emails exchanged between the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) members points to uneasy relationships within local football mother body’s leadership. In what has been a turbulent year at Lekidi, rumours had always circulated that some NEC members were not seeing eye to eye with the President. at the centre of the tensions was the relationship between BFA President Tebogo Sebego and his two of his Vice Presidents (VP), namely VP Finance and Marketing Research Marshlow Motlogelwa and VP Technical Stephen Phetlhe. While the NEC has always tried to play down their tensions in public, recent leaked emails tell stories of bitter boardroom brawls. T
he brawls between the BFA President and his VPs became even more public and intense as the BFA elective Annual General Assembly (AGA) draw closer. The latest of such clashes came as early as May when some NEC members tried to force an NEC Board meeting which was not sanctioned. As Sebego resisted the attempt, citing that the BFA NEC wait until the 17th of June when all reports from BFA structures are submitted first, some BFA NEC members, led by VP Finance as well as VP Technical tried to force the meeting to convene on the 10th of the same month. Sebego’s refusal drew a sharp rebuke from Motlogelwa who accused the President of ‘assuming powers he does not have.’
“You always assume powers that you do not have and i always remind you, and you never listen,” Motlogelwa rebuked the President. “That’s the problem with you, one minute you are a spokesperson and the next you want to command. You have made your request, sit and listen. I manage the engagements not you. Once again you have been heard. You can’t try force a meeting at a date of your choice,” Sebego retorted. The VP Finance then got the backing of the VP Technical, Phetlhe, who insisted the meeting will go on. Sebego however insisted even to Phetlhe that the meeting will not convene, drawing more ire from Motlogelwa in the process. “There is nowhere in the constitution which empowers you to be the sole convener of emergency meetings. We cannot work according to your timetable all the time, article 37.1 in the constitution is very clear… You can’t command us as if we are school kids…,” Motlogelwa reorted back sharply.
Reached for comment, an NEC member, who commented on condition of anonymity confirmed there was always acrimony at the BFA NEC meetings. The NEC member said due to the tensions, the BFA NEC board could not conduct its business as they got engaged in boardroom brawls at every given time. “Every time we went for a meeting, some members would be fighting for the impeachment of the BFA President. They would call for him to excuse himself from the meeting and arguments would ensue as the President refused to accede to their demands. This distracted the BFA NEC from effectively carrying out their mandate,” the BFA NEC member said.
