Suspended Billiards association denied national flag

Suspended Botswana Billiards Association (BBA) has been denied the right to hoist Botswana flag at the All Africa Blackball Pool Championships (AAPA) that were held in Monte Casino, Johannesburg, over the weekend.

The association was slapped with suspension by the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) after failing to comply with the Registrar of Societies requirements.

BBA spokesperson, Marang Morolong, told SportMonitor that they were playing the championships under the AAPA flag because they have been affiliates of the association since 2016.

“The BNSC informed us that they cannot assist us in anyway because we are suspended. But we are trying to put our house in order so that we can be BNSC affiliates in good standing again.

In July, we invited a delegate from AAPA to Botswana in order to assist us in running the association properly. We wanted them to appreciate our situation and help us get the sport where it should be.

“They wrote an evaluation report and shared it with the BNSC but they have not responded or acted on it. We are still waiting for them so that we can see the way forward,” Morolong said.

He said the process of compliance is dragging slowly because some of the clubs are failing to commit to the guidelines that are set.

He said they have affiliates but sticking to terms and conditions of the Registrar is a challenge. Morolong said running an association is difficult because clubs cannot be forced to correct their way of doing thing.

“These are social clubs with members running them from car boots, no bank account, no Annual General Meetings (AGMs), and even having members in good standing.

So we really should work hard to correct all that and it is hard work because even us as the executive committee, we are volunteers,” he said.

The Botswana team was making a debut at the continental championships and they were regarded as underdogs. He said ahead of the competition, national team trials were held to select players who were competing at the championships. At the beginning of the tournament, women won all their matches while on the men’s side, there were two wins and two losses against Zambia and Tanzania.

The men’s team reached the semi-final as number four and they played against South Africa on Saturday who finished third.

Unfortunately, the team failed to progress to the next stage of the tournament after losing to South Africa. Boineelo Molefi reached the singles semi finals while the women’s team reached the final after beating Zimbabwe 13-9.

Results on Thursday: Women game one: Botswana 17-8 Namibia. Game two: Botswana 14-11 Zimbabwe. Game three: Botswana 15- 10 Zambia.

Men: Game one: 13-12 South Africa. Game two: Zambia 18-7 Botswana. Game three: Botswana 14-11 Namibia. Game four: Tanzania 18-7 Botswana.

The

BNSC informed us that they cannot assist us in anyway because we are suspended. But we are trying to put our house in order so that we can be BNSC affiliates in good standing again. In July, we invited a delegate from AAPA to Botswana in order to assist us in running the association properly