BFA chief Keith Masters resigns

Embattled Botswana Football Association (BFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keith Masters has handed in his resignation and is already serving notice at Lekidi, inside sources said this week.

The resignation comes after local security agents stormed the Briton’s office at Lekidi recently where they found stacks of controlled drug, Viagra and pornographic material that contravened local cyber crime laws. The raid at Lekidi came at a time when Masters’ performance was already under scrutiny by the BFA National Executive Committee (NEC). Amidst such pressures and a media storm following the raid, Masters who came to BFA with vast experience as a former CEO of Kent County Football Association in Britain, was forced to do the honourable thing. “It is not clear yet when he will leave the country,” BFA sources said.

Masters was met with hype and fanfare when he arrived at Lekidi. His three-year contract with BFA in February 2013 was meant to transform the association into a sustainable profit making entity. The controversial Briton arrived just six months after BFA president Tebogo Sebego and his Friends of Football cabal ascended to power after ousting David Fani’s committee. Masters, dubbed the ‘Messiah from England’ when he was hired, was assigned the mandate to commercialise football, but ever since he has complained of lack of sufficient resources and structures and failed to deliver. Masters took over from the then CEO Duncan Kgame who resigned to pave way for Tebogo Sebego’s administration, when they planned to revamp the association. Contacted for comment this week

Masters said, “Sorry I was advised not to talk about that, but I will talk about it when the time is right. I will make a statement.” Efforts to reach Sebego on the resignation allegations proved futile. Instead the BFA boss told BG Sport that he was at the National stadium watching football and cannot take questions before hanging up. Sebego’s administration has been dogged by infighting, resignations and suspensions. It remains to be seen whether Masters has a case to answer.