Mpote drags BFA before Court

It may have taken a little longer than expected, however the inevitable has finally landed as former Senior national team coach, Mogomotsi Mpote has reportedly dragged the Botswana Football Association (BFA) before the footballing courts of laws, BG Sport has gathered.Mpote hit the exit doors of Lekidi offices in 2023 on the backdrop of the Zebras 2-1 victory over Eswatini at Lobatse Sports Complex in an international friendly encounter, when his contract was still left with a year and a half to elapse.Fresh reports suggests that the former Township Rollers, Nico United and Orapa United head coach has filed a case against the BFA over claims of unfair dismissal.According to close informants at Lekidi, the former Zebras boss has dragged the association to FIFA through Court of Arbitration for Sport.“He signed a three (3) year contract back in 2022 which was set to come to an end in November 2025. From what is enclosed in the contract, his performances were to be judged from the current World Cup campaign, 2025 AFCON qualifiers, CHAN competition and COSAFA cup tournament, but unfortunately he was dismissed before completing a year. Of course these were the decisions of the previous regime but there was a need for the new administration to find a resolution on this matter,” a source at Lekidi told this publication.“The tricky part however is whether the right procedures and processes were followed in the matter, this is a labour issue. This is an employer-employee matter managed by labour conditions of the BFA and Botswana Labour laws. There are also structures within the association which can address the issue, the National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC) is one of them but we’ll see how it will unfold,” the informant added.However, the BFA were left perplexed when contacted by this publication to confirm whether they received letters from the former coach or not.“No we have received no letter from him, it's news to us,” BFA COO Kago Mosinyi responded.Back in 2019, Mpote hit the exit doors of the BFA following the arrival of Adel Amrouche who deemed him surplus to requirements.Despite being roped back into the post after the departure of the Algerian, Amrouche, Mpote was deemed incompetent just a few months into his post.The BFA ran out of patience following unimpressive performance by the team during the AFCON 2023 qualifiers and the COSAFA Cup championships.“Following an internal assessment and evaluation of where the Botswana senior men’s national football team is, the Zebras are currently not where we want them to be. Parting ways with Mpote hasnot been an easy decision and as BFA we have no intention to make light of it all. The decision was taken with the interest of the Zebras at heart,” part of the statement from the BFA read when announcing Mpote’s exit.The association then moved swiftly and acquired the services of French born gaffer, Didier Gomes Da Rosa who despite leading the team impressively resigned from his post, leaving Botswana on the verge of a qualification to the AFCON 2024 finals.

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Mpote drags BFA before Court