More than meets the eye

The setting: UB Stadium dressing rooms, minutes after the Chiefs versus Township Rollers quarter final match on the night of Friday 29 November. Highly charged officials of Chiefs storm into the dressing rooms, evidently baying for referee Joshua Bondo’s blood.

The violently heated commotion is attributed to the referee’s controversial decision that saw him award a penalty to Rollers, the result of which saw Jerome Lewis score to send Mapalastina into the Mascom Top 8 semi finals. So incensed were both Chiefs officials and players alike that captain Pontsho Moloi and senior player Michael Mogaladi also found themselves on the wrong side of the law after adding to the physical assault of Bondo.  At about that time, Moloi was actually wanted at the television interview box where he was to be awarded his Man of The Match prize. He could not be bothered. His coach, Dragojlo Stanojlovic had also absconded from that contractual obligation of a post-match interview. As it is now well-documented, the players – currently on suspension - and their officials are now facing charges of misconduct.

Back in that dressing room at the UB Stadium, tempers had reached boiling point when Mamelodi came in. He immediately threw himself inside that cauldron of verbal and physical brawl, trying to cool everybody down. Unfortunately, he too was placed on the receiving end of the angry Chiefs officials – assaulted both verbally and physically as well. Soon the attack took a nasty turn, with the heat now directed at the BPL CEO who eventually had to scurry away to save himself from further embarrassment. It is the gravity of the fight - and the language that aided it - that enlisted questions as to whether the issue was still about the referee’s decision that night, or whether there was more to the bitter exchange.

With Chiefs’ chairman Ernest Molome reported to be reluctantly on his way out at the club, there was wind of him blaming Mamelodi for playing a part in the decision to plug him out of the club’s management. As nasty words were exchanged that night, some on the sidelines threw in such sentiments, even suggesting that Mamelodi has never liked some Chiefs’ officials. In fact, those close to the two parties say the conflict dates back to the early days of this year when premier league sponsors beMOBILE gave the BPL office an amount of P200 000 for use by Chiefs ahead of their CAF Champions League assignment that began with Maxaquene of Mozambique. The money was to cover accommodation and other logistics related to their participation in the Champions League.

Although Chiefs officials had initially thought little about beMOBILE crediting the BPL account with the money, they later decided they would rather have the money in their own hands. It was against that background that they later resolved to go knock at Mamelodi’s door, demanding the money as a matter of urgency. This irked Mamelodi , because before then, there had been common understanding that one Sonny Phiri, who was then acting on behalf of the BPL as Head of Delegation to Mozambique, would be the one making transactions related to the trip. This apparently was made to ensure accountability to the sponsor and the BPL. But the Chiefs officials would have none of it, demanding that they be given what they understood to be their money.  The club officials alleged to have confronted the premier league boss included Molome, Cilfford Mogomotsi, Lebogang Seboni and Sebele Morakanyane.

Their demand for the money, it is said, stemmed from a suspicion that with the premier league coffers running dry, Mamelodi and company could be tempted to use their money.  They are said to have demanded the whole money in lump sum, saying they were not leaving the offices without what was theirs. It was this feisty approach that is said to have caused Mamelodi to lose his cool, resulting in a lengthy heated exchange. A source who was close to the development says despite having visibly looked angry, Mamelodi eventually assisted them, whereupon they left with money in the form of USD 10 000 and R20 000. Incidentally, before the heated exchange at the premier league office, the Chiefs officials had earlier that day confronted Mamelodi at Lansmore Hotel where the 2013/14 Mascom Top 8 competition was officially launched. Their beef had been with the Chiefs’ playing kits that were paraded by models at the function, complaining that they had not yet seen the uniform themselves.

What ensued after that would then soil the relationship between the Chiefs officials and Mamelodi to irrevocable proportions. Sources say that because the money used in Mozambique was not adequately accounted for, with invoices and receipts reported to have mysteriously disappeared, Mamelodi has since been livid, convinced that the club officers had wanted to control the money in order to use part of it for personal gain. Encounters between the two parties are said to have been unsavoury since then, giving credence to the notion that the bad blood that was evident at the UB Stadium was only a sequel of an already stormy relationship. The Chiefs officials now say they know Mamelodi will not rest until stern action is taken against their club officials and players. For them, the suspension of Moloi and Mogaladi was the CEO’s way of getting back at them, adding that it was the reason he even ensured victims of the night report them to the police for assault. On the other hand, with the ongoing change of guard at Chiefs, it is reported that Molome strongly believes that Mamelodi is behind the drive to remove him as chairperson of the club, with reports that one Alfred Busang - acting on behalf of Chiefs’ owner Sayed Jamali - could replace him even at the BPL Board level. Jamali has also employed Morakanyane as General Manager, which would leave Molome in the lurch and ensure he does not get to work with Mamelodi at any official forum. 

When contacted for comment, Morakanyane confirmed that they indeed went to the premier league offices to demand money which was meant for their CAF Champions league assignment, which they eventually received in foreign currency. “Mamelodi gave us the money, but I want to set the record straight that I personally don’t have a problem with him. It is just that when we went to him as a group, he interpreted that as intent to start a fight with him. Perhaps also because within us was someone with whom he is not in good terms.” Morakanyane told BG Sport. Molome also denied having any problem with Mamelodi, adding that while he had indeed had previous confrontations with him, he did not see why such misunderstandings could be allowed to spill into current matters that involve them. Another source from within the club said they were almost giving up on their case of suspended players as they have been taken from pillar to post whenever they sought an urgent resolution to it. The premier league CEO, Mamelodi, declined to comment on the matter, saying he could not discuss individual club issues with the media.

While premier league office is adamant that Chiefs were supposed to account for the money they used in Mozambique, the Chiefs officials have on the other hand said it was not necessary. Morakanyane says accountability was in fact supposed to be made with him – as finance officer at the club then - although he admits that was never done because of the invoices that reportedly went missing. The rest of the money was used in later Chiefs encounters to among others, pay for the officials that presided over their CAF games.