14 Jul 2014

The game that pitted Diphatsa against Itekeng  in Serowe on July 12 was called off due to incompetent officiating and poor record-keeping.

During the duel of week 10 of the Mascom volleyball extravaganza in Serowe, it was discovered in the third set that Diphatsa committed a rotational fault which then prompted Itekeng coach through his captain to have the game stopped to necessitate score check.

It was exposed that not only was there a rotational fault but there were no service records for the first and second sets which Diphatsa won 25-17 and 25-16 respectively.

To cap it all, some in the Itekeng camp alleged that the first referee was incompetent and could therefore not handle a game of that magnitude.

Upon realising all that, arguments ensued on whether the game should continue or be called off and it took more than 30 minutes before a consensus could be reached.

However, after reaching an agreement to continue with the game, Itekeng threatened to play under protest arguing that a game with no records would be an embarrassment to the sporting code and would reflect badly on their reputation.

Notwithstanding their differences, the two camps from far north and south agreed to honour the game before another stumbling block cropped out.

Itekeng coach, Director Lebetwa accused Nkhwinga Nelson of Diphatsa of intentionally hitting him with a ball during the free spiking warm-up that was allowed after a long recess.

He alleged that Nelson had openly declared that he would hit him with the ball which he did, according to coach Lebetwa. Lebetwa alleged that he had wanted Nelson to apologise and allow the game to continue but Lebetwa’s camp would not take the incident lying down and besieged their coach in protection when Nelson approached.

Sensing that their teammate could be in danger of the fuming Jwaneng men, the Francistowners approached the Itekeng camp and thus creating an unpleasant seen that forced the match commissioner to call off the game without any hesitation.

However, Nelson pleaded not guilty to any provocation as alleged. He also dismissed claims that he intentionally hit Lebetwa with a ball arguing that in free spiking, balls could go any direction.

Nelson also said he had wanted to apologise to Lebetwa but was shoved off by the fuming Itekeng boys. He revealed that upon realising that their colleague’s apologies were unwelcome at the opposing camp, his teammates then restrained him from reaching for the Itekeng coach.

However, Lebetwa was disappointed at the conduct of the national team player who is reportedly plying his trade abroad and threatened to write a letter to the federation on the incident.

For his part, Botswana Volleyball Federation Vice Chairperson, Games Organising Commission Bapoga Nshakazhogwe confirmed Itekeng suspicions and added that they too realised that things were amiss when they spotted rotational fault amongst Diphatsa players but officials let it slip. As a result the game will be played at a date and venue to be announced in due course.

Diphatsa also experienced another setback when their game against BDF VI was canceled in the first set due to poor lighting. 

This therefore translates that Diphatsa only managed to successfully play only one game out of the possible three fixtured encounters. The absence of army men did not deter the well-built and somewhat robust Diphatsa players who had to ward off challenges from Prisons VI volleyball team by hammering the latter 25-18, 25-20 and 25-23 to run away 3-0 winners.

Though Diphatsa’s attack led by the lanky Thabo Rebabonye was fierce, their serves were a suspect which consequently benefited opponents. The tightly contested third round saw captain Nlebesi stretchered off the pitch after twisting his ankle in fierce exchanges.

In other games, homeside Tanian continued with their downward spiral when they went down 3-0 to Desert Kings of Molepolole. Tanian went on to lose by the same margin to Prisons. ENDS