BPL: Free agents left in limbo

Some premier league players whose contracts expired this past 2019/20 season are still left out in the cold as their previous clubs continues to delay their decisions regarding the lapsed contracts.

The teams are said to be conflicted by the issue as their technical team don’t want the players to be released to other teams while management on the other hand sees this as an opportunity to cut wage expenses citing covid-19 effect on their financials. Even though some teams are reported to be eyeing some of these players it is however their previous teams that have to officially release the players after an agreement between the two clubs. Some of the players who are now going into the third month clueless about their fate have since approached Footballers Union of Botswana (FUB) for their intervention. The contracts lapsed in June when the 2019/20 football season was supposed to have ended, with both foreign and local players being equally affected by the situation.

FUB Secretary General, Kgosana Masaseng confirmed this revealing that they have so far for now only received complaints from some players who were previously contracted to Township Rollers and one from Security Systems XI. Masaseng told The Patriot Sport that the number is inconclusive so they would not for now know the exact number of players affected. Quizzed about their called intervention by the players Masaseng indicated that they are yet engage with the teams on a solution.“Our proposal is for the players whose 2019/20 season contracts have expired to continue being under the care of the teams which they were contracted to until football activities resumes, also looking at the fact that the window period has not yet been opened,” the Secretary General however shared their proposal to the teams.

While efforts to get a comment from Security Systems XI on this matter was not successful, Township Rollers Spokesperson, Bafana Pheto on the other hand has confirmed that there four players on their side who they (Rollers) have not yet made a decision about their expired contracts. The players include midfielders, Lemponye Tshireletso and Galagwe Moyana, Bogosi Nfila (striker) as well as Kaone Van der Westhuizen (winger). Pheto acknowledged that they are still at standstill at the moment regarding the players’ contracts for the reasons that they remain unaware as to when football activities will resume again in Botswana. “The fundamental of contracting a player is for him to play football but it becomes very difficult to make a decision about contracts when there is nothing going on with football not knowing as to when it will stat again,” Pheto told The Patriot Sport.

The PRO noted that it is their technical team who will advise management about the four players and management will be the ones to make a final decision on the matter. Pheto has however stressed that the advise of the technical team will also be guided by the current football situation in Botswana.