Magosi douse league rumours
Not buying their way back to the Premier League
The Kgatleng giants, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, popularly known as Magosi have denied the recently published reports that they are on a mission to buy their way back into top flight football before the resumption of the league.
“Our team relegated. We can’t live in fantasy. We must work hard to regain our status back,” Magosi Public Relations Officer (PRO),Olebile Sikwane said in an interview this week.
However, it has been reported that Magosi would want to go for the status of teams that did not comply with the Club Licensing criteria, among them Gilport Lions, Extension Gunners, Notwane, Mahalapye Railway Highlanders and Mogoditshane Fighters.
“No one is selling the BPL status or franchise. If someone was selling that would be an attractive route, an easier route. Assuming that there’s one franchise available, the other question is at what price? What do we have to do to acquire that franchise? Do we comply to return with that franchise? And does that franchise sell because they don’t meet compliance? It’s a lot of things involved,” Sikwane stressed.
However, he said his preference will be promoting directly instead of buying another club status in the league. “I prefer to return through points collected not cash put on the table,” Sikwane said.
Since Magosi relegated to the Debswana First Division South (DFDS) several attempts have been made to return to top-flight football but all of them hit a snag. In 2020, the club was close to securing Gilport Lions’ Premier League status as several officials in charge of the club at the time revealed that Magosi were looking to buy their way back into the league after settling their massive debts. However, most of their deals were off the table after a lengthy process that occurred due to the debts the club incurred over the years.
Magosi lost a grip of promotion last year, occupying 4th position in the Debswana First Division South (DFDS) league when the league was halted.
Mochudi Center Chiefs slipped to the DFDS back in 2019, Maaparankwe as the team is also fondly known sank following a series of bad results and financial snags that struck sometime in 2016. Financial problems at the club were in full swing when the club lost assistance from property Mogul, Seyed Jamali. Ever since, it has been difficult for the team to maintain their dominance and status in the league, the problem spilled over to the players as the situation worsened leading to a mass exodus of players.