BFA CONDEMNS MUTI USE

According to the information gathered by this publication, the referees association will now issue a red card to any player or officials who will be seen doing any activity that could provoke discussions of Muti usage during the period of the match. The BFA’s referees Manager, Phodiso Rasetshoga has confirmed that indeed referees have been given more powers to combat and eliminate shenanigans in the local game as a result of ‘jujuman’ practices. “The referees have the powers, we need to take control and ensure that our games are clean. We have instructed them that nothing shall be allowed to be put within the goal posts; we don’t want anything there because we have realized things that are kept there are the ones which cause a lot of these fights. We are not against teams performing their rituals, it is none of our business but we are not going to allow their practices to tarnish the game of football,” Rasetshoga shared. He further added that teams and the BFL office have been notified of the latest developments from the referees association. “We have notified relevant bodies, official communication will be issued very soon but this is something that we had to swiftly act on before it escalated. We did engage club officials and referees do hold pre match discussions with the players and club officials about the latest behavior,” he said. Rasetshoga said the scenes which have been seen in several BFL games had the potential to bring the game of football into disrepute. Players and officials will face possible penalties, amongst them sending off (Red card) or financial charges from the Football Association for breaching the laws of the game classified under ‘misconduct’. Some BFL team officials have voiced strong condemnation of the changes brought by the referees association adding that, using Muti is part of the tradition not only in Botswana but also in African football. “We have seen these things happen even at the just ended Africa Cup of Nations, it is an African practice and has been ongoing for a long time. Some people believe in and therefore must not be stopped to practice what they believe in. Yes there has been instances where it didn’t look good but I believe all parties must be engaged to formulate a way forward that can best address the situation,” the source shared. Fresh in the memory of football supporters will be the match between Township Rollers and Morupule Highlanders in which referee Derrick Marks had arguably one of his toughest assignment as several altercations of players from both teams clashed over Muti incidents.