|
|
Botswana: Nico Cry Foul
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
11 April 2008
Posted to the web 14 April 2008
Mqondisi Dube
Selebi-Phikwe
Nico United have been left fuming over what the club claims is unfair treatment by soccer authorities.
The club's spokesman, Eitlhomilwe Raditshego said the Botswana Football Association (BFA) and its Premier League Committee (PLC) have not been fair to Nico in two cases. First Majombolo complains that the cancellation of their match against Gaborone United (GU) last year was not fair. Second, the club feels hard done by the way their protest over the eligibility of Keaketswe 'Mara' Moloi to play for new champions Mochudi Centre Chiefs was handled. The case was dismissed.
The PLC has ruled that the GU-Nico game should be played at a yet-to-be named date at the Selebi-Phikwe Stadium. However, Nico said they only go to know about the decision after making inquiries at the PLC offices. "There were certain circumstances surrounding the cancellation of the game. We are of the opinion that we were given a raw deal," Raditshego said. The game was cancelled because troubled GU failed to raise a team to honour the fixture. Raditshego said the PLC never communicated with them on the issue and they were surprised to be given a copy of the letter on the decision long after it had been availed to GU. He said Nico became suspicious when they received fixtures indicating that they are supposed to play GU. Raditshego said since there were indications that GU are the guilty party, the PLC should have held a hearing attended by Nico representatives. He said PLC secretary Setete Phuthego was supposed to communicate directly with them instead of giving them a copy of the letter sent to GU. He added that even in the case of Moloi, Nico was never invited for a hearing. The BFA Chief Executive Officer, Tosh Kgotlele apologised to Nico for the oversight but Raditshego felt that the club is being taken for granted.
"May be as Nico, we have been too nice to both the BFA and the PLC. We have been supportive to both soccer bodies but it seems we are not taken seriously. If they continue taking us lightly, we might pursue other means." Raditshego accused Phuthego of conniving with certain clubs in the Moloi case. He said the PLC secretary had made reference to a letter written by the concerned player, which was not availed at the time of the cancellation of his blue book. This followed the player's aborted move to GU during the transfer period. Chiefs and Moloi have been cleared of any wrong-doing.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
