Mamelodi Triumphs!
The Botswana Football Association (BFA) President Tebogo Sebego this week made it clear that he wants suspended Botswana Premier League (BPL) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bennett Mamelodi back in office at Lekidi.
This followed a recent BFA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which happened to be the last sitting before the eagerly anticipated BFA Annual General Assembly (AGA) where a new NEC will be elected at the end of this month. According to sources close to the matter, the NEC was expected to agree in principle to give the non-autonomous BPL board, permission to battle Mamelodi in court.
However, none of the NEC members were brave enough to pull the proverbial trigger. Consequently, a dramatic and surprising twist in the Mamelodi suspension saga saw the BPL board being denied an opportunity to go against a hard-pressed CEO in court. Lately, Mamelodi has been lingering in limbo following allegations of mismanagement and embezzlement of BPL office funds. However, the BPL CEO was quick to retaliate and drag his employers before the Gaborone Industrial court in a bid to contest his suspension. The matter was heard last month.
During arbitration, the court found that there was no evidence that the BFA NEC had sanctioned Mamelodi’s suspension, which consequently meant that the BPL had submitted inadequate documents before the court. Therefore, the BPL was given an opportunity to submit relevant documents by Tuesday this week, of which they allegedly failed to do.However, recent reports from sources at Lekidi have suggested that some NEC members initially wanted the suspended CEO pushed out.
“They deliberately opposed all the good that was done by Mamelodi. A number of these malevolent NEC members wanted mayhem to prevail at the BPL and to tarnish Sebego so that he is seen as a failure,” source close to the issue said this week. The meeting in which the NEC failed to agree on the issue meant Mamelodi’s immediate return to office, as they had no case against him before the court.
As things stand, a default judgment is now expected where Mamelodi will stage validating cameo in court before a triumphant return to his Lekidi post. “I am very happy with the decision taken by NEC,” Sebego said this week. “ I have long advised against this cause of action along with the association’s legal advisor. “What the BPL did was not right. I am now happy with the latest developments.” The BFA president said Mamelodi’s dramatic comeback will bring back stability to the BPL secretariat.
Thus far, the beMOBILE premiership sponsorship was currently on the edge. The league sponsors who have already pumped millions into the organisation were not shy about airing their discontent over the recent and unfortunate events at Lekidi. So bad was the situation that even the swanky annual beMOBILE premiership awards were cancelled.
Besides the multimillion-beMobile sponsorship another mobile phone network provider Mascom had decided to remain silent over the dramatic turn of events unraveling at Lekidi. At the annual Mascom Top 8 awards recently, the company hinted that they will exercise their right to extend their contract for another year.