{"id":10817,"date":"2022-07-24T19:03:43","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T19:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses"},"modified":"2022-07-24T19:45:17","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T19:45:17","slug":"a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses","title":{"rendered":"A divided football fraternity views Rollers verdict through very different lenses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The verdict in the emotive misconduct proceedings instituted by the Botswana Football League (BFL) against Township Rollers would have been an anti-climax were it not for highly charged and sharply divided reaction it has generated.<\/b><\/p>\n

After months of dithering, Rollers was last week slapped with a P15 000 fine for the use of the defaulter. This was either a slap on the wrist or a raw deal for Township Rollers, depending on which soccer jersey you are wearing.<\/p>\n

From the very beginning, at least outside the disciplinary proceedings room, it was difficult to untangle the swirl of football political and social issues from the indictment. It is a case that cut to the very heart of Botswana\u2019s football rivalry.<\/p>\n

Contacted for comment the BFL chief executive officer, Solomon Ramochotlhwane said the league is still looking into the sentence. \u201cBFL chief persecutor is still studying the judgment and will advise on the next move whether to accept the decision or appeal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Rollers spokesperson Bafana Phetho, welcomed the judgment \u2018for the sake of football.\u2019 \u201cIt is not that we are happy with the decision, but we accept it for the sake of football\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He further explained that if they were to appeal the decision, it would bring up many issues. \u201cIt could disturb pre-season preparations and it may lead to the delay in the commencement of the league. And football supporters would blame Rollers for delaying the season by pursuing justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rollers PRO further explained that as a team, they still believe they are innocent. \u201cWe believe we were not at fault but we will abide by the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pheto said Ratanang\u2019s registration issue had an adverse effect on their previous season campaign. He said had it not been for this issue, they could have won the league. \u201cWe were disturbed by those who brought the issue. Had this issue not come up we would be the champions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Football commentator Jimmy George, said \u2018the judgment does not reflect what is on the ground and \u201cit shows that there is plenty of lawlessness in our football. The whole thing is about power play nothing else\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

George observed that \u2018judgments are passed to deter teams or individuals from doing the same mistake again, but this one does not serve any purpose.\u2019 \u201cA mere P15 000 for Rollers is nothing. Rollers is feared and a stiffer penalty could have served purpose. The judgment looked at the team and ignored the crime committed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be remiss of me if I don\u2019t talk to the injustices given to Phuthego. There is inequality in our football. There is no logic in charging Rollers P15 000 and banning Phuthego for life, it is double standards\u201d, charged George. He insists that the BFA has disrespected Phuthego and must apologise to him. \u201cThe decisions taken at BFA are personal and not objective.\u201d<\/p>\n

He observed that Rollers used a defaulter and accumulated 43 points using a player who was registered illegally while other teams abided by the law and were relegated to the lower league, \u201cthis is very unfair and we shouldn\u2019t be proud of it.\u201d \u201cThe onus is on the relegated teams to seek justice and demand fair judgment in this case\u201d he opined.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The verdict in the emotive misconduct proceedings instituted by the Botswana Football League (BFL) against Township Rollers would have been an anti-climax were it not for highly charged and sharply divided reaction it has generated. After months of dithering, Rollers was last week slapped with a P15 000 fine for the use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10816,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-10817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nA divided football fraternity views Rollers verdict through very different lenses - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The verdict in the emotive misconduct proceedings instituted by the Botswana Football League (BFL) against Township R ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A divided football fraternity views Rollers verdict through very different lenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The verdict in the emotive misconduct proceedings instituted by the Botswana Football League (BFL) against Township R ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-24T19:03:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-24T19:45:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_3-62dda1350712f.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"447\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"A divided football fraternity views Rollers verdict through very different lenses\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-24T19:03:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-24T19:45:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\"},\"wordCount\":570,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_3-62dda1350712f.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/a-divided-football-fraternity-views-rollers-verdict-through-very-different-lenses\",\"name\":\"A divided football fraternity views Rollers verdict through very different lenses - 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