Africa-Press – Botswana. The controversy-ridden Botswana Rugby Union (BRU) league will finally proceed to the semi-final stage tomorrow.
The league has seen some flashpoints, including issues with match officials, whilst some clubs were docked points. The semi-finals were initially scheduled to be held last weekend but were postponed. The league chairperson, Bucks Keopetswe, told that the semi-finals were postponed due to logistical issues that need intervention. He said clubs in the top four, which will play in the semi-finals, are Gaborone Hogs, BDF Cheetahs, Canon Jaguars, and Jwaneng Wildebeests. “We docked points from Rhinos because they used a defaulter. Botho Ryders and Jaguars wrote a letter to the disciplinary committee complaining that Rhinos used an illegible player.
The letter was forwarded to me as the league chairperson. Action was taken alongside regulations. The player had to miss two league games, but that did not happen,” he said. Keopetswe explained that the two clubs benefited from the Rhinos’ points. In another game, which was called off between Wildebeests and Jaguars, Keopetswe said it was an issue of misconduct. He said Wildebeest also lost some points, which were given to the Jaguars. Rhino’s chairperson, Emmanuel Mabulana, admitted that they had fielded a defaulter against Ryders and Jaguars. He said it was unfair for the league committee to have given their points to the two sides. The decision means Rhinos will not play in the league semi-finals tomorrow. “We requested a meeting with the BRU board on Wednesday evening, but it did not materialise. Initially, Great North was also in the top four after they were granted points, which were ours. The club had only played two games, fortunately, that was turned around,” he said.
Mabulana said the procedure is that the complainants should write the letter of protest within seven days. He argued that there was no evidence of that happening. “The vice president-technical, Elijah Kokoro has made a recommendation that Jaguars should not benefit from our points because the player in question did not score against them. We only have recommendations; there is no way forward,” he said. Meanwhile, Jaguars coach Jeremy Barbage said a lot of decisions in the field went against them this season, which almost contributed to them not making it to the top four. “We were struggling to get players, as all my players knew we were not in the semi-finals based on the first log standing that was released. We actually knew last night (Wednesday) that officially we made it. So, now we have not trained as a team for two weeks, and we are about to face the seven-time (Hogs) in a row league champions with one training session,” said Barbage. He said, nevertheless, they will give their all.
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