Mosah Mokganedi
4 December 2008
Yarona Country Club (YCL) has stopped sponsoring chess events after a Botswana Chess Federation (BCF) official (name withheld for legal reasons) was implicated in the theft of a vehicle tyre.
The Mogoditshane lodge cut its ties with BCF saying that it does not want to be seen to be in support of criminal behaviour. YCL chief executive officer, Patrick Simon said the decision to stop financing chess events came after a top BCF official was involved in the disappearance of a motor vehicle tyre at the lodge in August.
Simon said they are disappointed by the way BCF dealt with the issue. He claimed that BCF lied to them saying that the official in question was not in the country.
"Regrettably, we did not receive the understanding and cooperation that reflects our long standing relationship and we have formed the impression that BCF has dealt with this matter in bad faith. YCL regrets that our relationship has to come to this unfortunate end with BCF, we believe it will not be in the interest of our business and Botswana sports to continue our sponsorship," YCL wrote in a letter to the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC).
Simon told Mmegi Sport that they wrote to the BNSC because the BCF did not show seriousness in dealing with the matter. He said they gave the chess federation enough time to resolve the issue but it failed. He said they reported the matter to BCF secretary general, Kefilwe Miti who in turn called the said official to a meeting.
The official ignored the call, hence YCL felt it was not going to be possible to resolve the issue and the best option is to cut links with BCF. Simon said they are committed to supporting sports and they will sponsor other codes but not chess. It is alleged that a BCF official connived with an employee of YCL to steal a tyre from one of the lodge's cars.
The employee has since been dismissed from work. Meanwhile, Miti confirmed that YCL terminated its association with BCF after an official was involved in theft at the lodge. However, he was not impressed with YCL for not giving them a second chance before terminating the sponsorship.
He conceded that the federation was at fault but he believes that given enough time, they could have resolved the issue. He questioned the motive behind the lodge's letter to the Botswana National Sports (BNSC). "I do not know whether they were trying to achieve political mileage or what," he wondered.
The divorce between BCF and YCL means that a three-year sponsorship launched last year has been terminated. The deal involves YCL sponsoring an end of year tournament between the top two players of the season.
Yesterday, Miti refused to reveal what transpired on Tuesday when the BCF met to deliberate on the fate of its official at the centre of the YCL saga.
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