25 Oct 2017

A few years ago, former Township Rollers managing director, Somerset Gobuiwang left the club under a cloud.

Many viewed the move as motivated by frustration after he was allegedly disposed of the reins of one of the most successful clubs in the history of local football. 

Gobuiwang then headed south of Gaborone for redemption and found a new home at Sharps Shooting Stars who were then campaigning in the First Division South as Sharps Electrical.

Because of that, football pundits carved blood rivalry between Sharps and Rollers as soon as the former were promoted to the elite league at the end of last season. 

The rivalry heated up ahead of the two teams’ first meet in the BTC Premiership last weekend, and as soon as the whistle blew, it was evident that the battle was more than just a determination to collect the maximum points at stake.

Hard tackles flew around and it was foul after foul, and Rollers veteran winger, Joel Mogorosi suffered the most after he broke his right leg, fracturing the left one in the process. 

After the incident, Mogorosi took to social media to vent out his frustration, accusing Sharps coach, Pio Paul of instructing his players to be rough on Rollers. 

His post triggered emotional debate by football followers on social media, others in support of him and castigating Paul while others viewed the post as inappropriate. 

Below is Mogorosi’s verbatim Facebook post: “Some of the things di utlusa botlhoko nd if I sayin them u wil have haters bt ga gompieno ga kena go didimala e ka nna yaa ko e yang.. a coach telling a player gore a go robe o mo reeditse nd it happened onthobile jst seconds after mafoko a coach..whn it comes to the poor referee lefa nkare ke tsoga ebo ke utlwa gotwe o sule I wil go nd make a party ko tebellong yagagwe cuz he said it gore motho o nkgatile bt it’s too early for the card. To the player I can even shoot u and u die I won’t mind go kalediwa cuz ke go bolaile my man .. I was even scared kele ko hospital cuz the coach was even sayin go setse mogogwenyana mogo aparang #7 bt it never happened gore ba robe omongwe gape cuz dats what they came for.

To mr Gobuiwang I won’t say anything bt u in a wrong place where ever u are.. now I hear I got a red bt it’s fine my man I told u what’s in my heart cuz of yo words ore its early for a card motho a nthobile it’s fine I wil take it...thank u gents for winin the game u showed u belong to futball eseng ba timetseng...what m doin now it’s wrong bt I think this the only way to stop me cryin nd take out botlhoko bo mo pelong..sorry to my supporters technical team my players and rollers management...I know Rollers is goin to fine me for writing this bt I wil take it like a man batho ba tlhabisa ditlhong bare re robiwe nd re robegile…”

Contacted for comment on the club’s take on the post, Rollers mouthpiece, Phempheretlhe Pheto said they talked to Mogorosi and that he confirmed that indeed the post was his. 

“As a team we do not support what our player did and we made that clear to him. He told us that he vented out of frustration and regrets his actions, but we indicated to him that that does not give him the right to post such unprofessional posts. As a club we have a code of conduct that every player has to abide by. So we will take appropriate disciplinary action against the player in due time,” he said.

Pheto indicated that Mogorosi informed the club that the situation frustrated him as he was in good form and was intending to claim the Green Boot this season.

He also said what also frustrated the player most was fear over his career as he once broke the very same leg, and considering his advanced age, he feared he might fail to completely heal. 

“The player was also frustrated by the fact that he believed the injury was intentional, and said that if it was accidental he would not have had any problems with it,” Pheto said, amid speculation that Mogorosi had indicated that he was aware of instructions by the coach to have him “taken off the game.” 

Pheto also said even though they apologised on behalf of the player as a club, they still maintained that he should have known better than to post such words.

“Joel is a senior player and many young players in the team look up to him as a role model, so it was inappropriate of him,” he said. Pheto also said disciplinary action against the player would not be hastened as he was still under emotional and physical pain, and would have to go through counselling first. 

For his part, Botswana Premier League (BPL) chief executive officer, Styles Ntshinogang indicated that as of Tuesday, they had not yet received the match commissioner’s report, which would inform them of the developments at the game.

“But proactively, we will call the officials of both teams and hear their side of the story.

Then we will compare that with what is in the match report when it comes and refer the matter to the relevant people,” he said. 

On what actions were likely to be taken against the player and the coach if indeed he instructed the players to be rough, Ntshinogang said he could not pre-empt before meeting the officials, and that it was more appropriate to wait until the report and the officials give their side of the story. ENDS