Mamelodi faces the chop

With just over a year left on Bennett Mamelodi’s contract as the Botswana Premier League’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a number of premier league clubs’ chairpersons are reportedly lobbying on the sidelines to have him kicked out of his plum job.

Reports suggest that those spearheading the call for his sacking are the disgruntled lot whose clubs have at one point or the other had their clubs placed on the receiving end of the laws governing the league.

Decisions taken against these chairpersons’ clubs by the local football disciplinary structures are blamed on the BPL boss, with some describing him as arrogant. Mamelodi signed a three-year contract in November 2012 with the mandate of transforming the premier league and making it a better organized and attractive institution. Divisions have now rocked the premier league board made of the chairpersons of the 16 premier league clubs, with some in support of the renewal of Mamelodi’s contract and others reported to be looking to appoint one Thabo Styles Ntshinogang as his replacement. Others within the anti-Mamelodi group are said to be eyeing former BNSC Chairperson Kitso Kemoeng.

Very soon the board will have a meeting where a decision will be made on his future, hence the continuing lobbying. BG Sports is informed that those leading the call for Mamelodi’s sacking are from the ‘big’ clubs and are aware that they will need more numbers to ensure they vet him out. One club chairman who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity told BG Sport: “Actually it is not only big clubs that want him out, some clubs are just afraid to show which side they are on. We have those who say things behind the scenes.

The caucusing has long started and already six clubs are clear, we are only waiting to add a few more  then we will win our vote of vetting him out.” Asked why they felt that Mamelodi had to go, another board member blamed him for the slow process that has seen the league starting without a sponsor. In suggesting that the start of the league and sponsorship talks are squarely a responsibility of the CEO, the anonymous board member said, “I mean, why are we starting the league if we don’t have a sponsor? What was the rush all about? Was justice done to the clubs? We have already started spending more money but we are not certain of our sponsorship. The league is on and what if we lose our bargaining power and end up taking everything because we are desperate?

He lacks respect and takes people for granted but he must know that we are the ones who employed him.” Those against Mamelodi’s sacking believe however that he is being blamed for things that are not his responsibility but that of the board itself. Their argument is that the ‘big brother’ clubs behind the sacking of Mamelodi only have personal scores to settle, and not anything professional. “They forget that he took over at that BPL office when there was no clarity of roles because of the infighting in the secretariat. But since he took over full control, there has been commendable progress. He is faced with a lot of challenges they don’t want to consider yet he still manages to overcome them.

They should not mislead people. At the moment, he is on the driving seat towards premier league professionalization,” another close source told BG Sport.

The outgoing BPL Board chairman Mokganedi Molefe would only say, “That’s news to me. I don’t want to lose focus as we are concentrating on sponsorship negotiations. That’s all I can say.”

An insider at the Lekidi Football Centre that houses the premier league offices credited  Mamelodi with fostering an environment of teamwork amongst his staff members, adding that not everyone was ready to work with him when he took over. “But over time people appreciated the value he was bringing.

He ensured that all staff members had contracts and job descriptions and there were systems and controls in place. Currently the premier league has Finance Policy and Procedures Manual and a Human Resources Manual, which enable individual performances to be monitored,” the inside source said. Of late, his supporters argue he has been rooting for the premier league to be independent to allow it to  negotiate and conclude its own contracts on their terms, something they feel will go a long way in benefitting the clubs. “In answering the public outcry about some referees’ decisions in matches, he is working on the formation of a referees review committee, another new thing for our football.

He is working on changing the BPL financial year to go in line with the league season which runs from August to May. This is to enable the league to present financial statements that reflect a true picture of the actual income and expenditure for any particular season and in line with sponsorship disbursement schedule. If he is sacked, who benefits?” the source asked. Mamelodi would not be drawn into commenting on the matter either, only saying: “I was employed by the premier league board and it is within their rights to fire me if they no longer need my services.”