15 Mar 2018

The Botswana Premier League has announced the appointment of Township Rollers boss Jagdish Shah as the chairperson of the Premier League board.

Shah’s appointment follows the resignation of Rapula Okaile as the chairperson of Gaborone United a move which automatically relinquished his position as the league’s board chairperson.

Addressing members of the media during Shah’s presentation to the football fraternity, vice chairperson of BPL board Solomon Mantswe said the appointment of Shah came after a series of consultations with relevant stakeholders particularly the premier league legal advisory body and Township Rollers where he is currently serving as the club’s president.

Following a number of board consultation meetings, Mantswe said the board unanimously nominated Shah to fill the chairperson position.

The appointment of Shah to the helm of the football administration  bodyhas however not come without  controversy.

Some quarters see the move as contravening  Article 12.3.5 of the premier league constitution as Shah was Rollers president at the time of his appointment, but not the club’s chairperson as the constitution stipulates.

Mantswe explained that the board sought the advise of the league’s prosecution team and other BFA structures before proceeding with the appointment.

He said the legal advise they got was that they were covered for as long as there was a resolution from Rollers that they had authorised Shah to represent them in the board of directors as a permanent representative with full powers to participate and vote.

He said Shah had as a matter of fact been representing Rollers in a significant number of premier league board meeting therefore that qualified him to be considered for the position as Rollers provided the resolution to the effect that they had permitted Shah to fully represent them at various board meetings.

“Shah has for a long time been representing Rollers in board meeting in the capacity of the club chairperson as a proxy, hence the leagues’ legal counsel considered such facts in giving the board the green light to appoint him board chairperson,” he said.

Mantswe  explained that Shah’s term will run till the end of the season when the board appoints its new leadership for the next two seasons. In his acceptance remarks as the new board chairperson, Shah applauded the premier league board for the faith they had demonstrated in him to take the premier league to high levels.

With only three months of his turn in office, Shah stated that he had plans to transform the premier league into a new entity that would lure possible investors to the league.  “I promise that when the BPL starts in the 2018-19 season, it will be in an appealing platform in terms of secretariat, financials and happiness,”,said Shah.

He admitted his limited knowledge of football, but reiterated that his immense administration and business orientated mind will come handy towards the development of football in the country.

He pleaded with the public to refrain from dwelling on the negative, but rather channel more energy into how best to improve the standard of football in Botswana.

His role, he said was to ensure that the premier league was sustainable to stand alone as a profit generating entity and not be dependent on BFA grants. Ends