26 Jul 2020

Extension Gunners chairperson, George Kerekang says the club is held back by lack of proper governance procedures hence its currently swimming in debt.

Kerekang, who took over the Gunners leadership in November last year, explained on July 25 during the club’s annual general meeting in Lobatse, that the executive committee was therefore working on turning around the situation by restructuring their administrative systems.

He said Gunners, which last won the league in 1994, should reinvent itself to be able to become competitive again.

The team has endured many years in the doldrums since those glory days of the 1990s.

Gunners has also struggled financially and players boycotting training and matches has become a regular feature at the club in recent years.

They narrowly survived relegation in the past season, which ended prematurely last month because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are working on turning Gunners into a profitable and competitive entity.

Therefore we have to make many changes to how the team operates to make it attractive to investors and new members,” the chairperson said.

Kerekang said one of the major changes being implemented was developing a new financial policy for the club.

“The financial policy will guide the team through proper accounting, which will result in supporters knowing how the team’s finances are handled and spent. This will bring more trust on the team leadership,” he said.

He said the absence of good financial policy resulted with accumulation of debt for the team and mistrust between supporters and management over the years.

Kerekang said other things they were working on, were improving the management of relations with stakeholders, player development structures and the value of supporters to the club.

“We need to implement a good player development structure to produce our own players because it is expensive to buy readymade players,” he said.

The annual meeting was attended by the executive committee and leaders of supporters branches.

Lobatse MP, Dr Thapelo Matsheka, who gave a keynote address at the meeting, advised the club to work towards having stability of leadership in order to progress.

“Gunners has a rich history and comes from a town with a rich history as well. You should harness that opportunity and take this brand to another level. But you can do that effectively if you have consistency of leadership. You should look at having stability of leadership with a clear mandate,” said Dr Matsheka, who is also Minister of Finance and Economic Development. ENDS