BFA Stays Out Of Football Disputes

TheBotswana Football Association (BFA) has reiterated its position on keeping a distance from disputes that arise in local football sides. This comes in the wake of a looming dispute at Mochudi Centre Chiefs over the use of the name.

With hope having restored following years of internal squabbles at the Kgatleng giants, it has since appeared recently that the club maybe embroiled in another legal battle over the use of the Mochudi Centre Chiefs name. This follows the registration of a company named Mochudi Centre Chiefs Proprietary Limited, which according to the Companies and

Intellectual Property Authority (CIPA) website, is under the directorship of Ramocha Tsieng and Molefi Sexton Kowa. The two also own 50% shares each in the company. Club chairperson, Thapelo Tsheole recently made it clear that they will be left with no other option but to take appropriate measures against the use of that name by the two shareholders of the company.

Tsheole had said they tried to engage the two directors of the company who promised to come back to them but never did at the time. With the club now in danger of facing another legal showdown, the association has said it cannot intervene in such matters. “We do not engage in club disputes. It is not within our jurisdiction. It will be remiss for us to do that,” BFA chief executive officer (CEO), Mfolo Mfolo said. There are fears that the Chiefs saga could open floodgates of similar incidents where several football sides may find out later that certain companies had been registered under the same names as those of the clubs with most of them currently running as societies.

The association has recently accelerated its efforts in encouraging local football clubs to turn professional with the engagement of former FIFA development officer, Ashford Mamelodi. Mfolo said the association’s role is to provide a platform for teams to professionalise through education and support programmes from FIFA.