Thursday, February 13, 2025

Was Taylor removed to protect interests of NEC Members?

Botswana Football Association (BFA) National Executive Committee (NEC) members past and present are alleged to be owing the association a lot of monies.

The revelation came out during the disciplinary hearing of the recently fired association Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Goabaone Taylor.

“All I did since joining BFA was to improve financial spending and liabilities of the association. For example, there were trade payables owed by NEC members amounting to more than P1.5 million and I worked hard to recover that money,” the former CEO said during the hearing.

Asked whether she could provide evidence, Taylor said she will provide the list, “but it includes the past NEC members and others who were Head of Delegations (HOD). The same list had been taken before the NEC in August to approve the write offs and enforce compliance by members.”

Among other things, the former BFA CEO says members sent on international duty used contingency funds provided for them to ‘buy match videos.’

“NEC members requested more contingency funds than they needed and misused the funds on buying equipment like match videos which are not to be funded under contingency funds,” she said.

She went on to allege that her efforts to change the status quo failed. “It was in my best interest that the budget should not be spent to the bone, but because of the culture that continued despite my efforts.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source said Taylor had prepared a report to the NEC regarding the monies owed by members but it has not been attended to.

The source said the recent case scenario was the men and women COSAFA tournament where contingency funds were splashed on match videos.

“What was of great interest during the recent COSAFA games were the prices given for the match videos. If you look at it, purchasing match videos for women matches cost far more than those for the men’s matches,” the source said.

Asked why the BFA NEC did not take action and serve those believed to be culprits, the source said ‘the top brass at the BFA were scared of stepping on the toes of some of the NEC members’ handlers.’

“No one in the BFA top brass wanted to face off against the BFA NEC members handler, who also happens to be a financier,” the source said.

On the issue of buying match videos, a source knowledgeable on the matter said contrary to rumours that COSAFA match videos are given to participants for free, the opposite is the truth.

“What I can confirm is that teams are given videos of the matches they have played for free. However, when they want videos of their opponents, they have to pay for them,” the source explained.

The source went on to explain that the cause for confusion regarding the matter lies on the differing prices paid for such. “Yes, you will find that different people pay different prices for match videos,” the source said.

RELATED STORIES

Read this week's paper