BUFFOONERY ROCKS ZEBRAS CAMP

Botswana Football Association (BFA) senior men national team has been rocked by issues of indiscipline in the wake of their recent international friendly match against South Africa.

Reports coming out of the team suggest that there has been tension amongst the players which has resulted in some tussles and fights amongst team mates. After the Zebras 0-0 draw against Tunisia in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier encounter last month, there was also an incident which includes two of Gaborone United’s players who had to be separated after a fallout during an argument.

In the latest incident, one of the players’ mobile phone reportedly went missing and the owner [name with-held] went on to inflict serious harm to one of his teammates whom he felt was a prime suspect.

The player according to sources within the camp, used a glass bottle which left his teammate with a blue eye on the left, there were however no cuts to the victim and he is currently recov- ering. The incident has not been reported to the police but the BFA general manager Thapelo Mothusi has reportedly been notified. Contacted for comment, Mothusi played down the reports of ill-discipline in the camp and shared that whatever might have happened is ‘nothing abnormal’. “I haven’t had any serious reports of violence or fights in the camp, yes of course sometimes people may not agree on certain things and the arguments grow intense but it does not mean that those people are at war with each other. These are still young boys and such things [disagreements and tussles] can happen and it is up to us as the technical team to address the issues, even us in the technical team, we sometimes have our own differences so there is nothing unusual about it,” he said. “If you contact any of the players who are said to have fought you’ll realise that they are OK, they have nothing against each other. Sometimes these issues are not well reported and can mislead those that don’t understand how things work.