HOME > NEWS > BOTSWANA THREATEN TO STRIKE OVER PAYMENT AHEAD OF AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS

Botswana threaten to strike over payment ahead of Africa Cup of Nations

Zebras strike looms

Posted: 2012-01-10 14:32

There is discontent brewing in the Botswana squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, owing to a payment dispute, and two of the country's best players have been left at home.

Botswana's Player of the Season, Edwin Olerile, and the Supporters' Player of the Year, Skhana Koko, have been left out of Stanley Tshosane's 23-man squad, much to the surprise of Batswana fans.

The coach named his squad on Sunday, and they departed this morning for Yaounde, Cameroon, where they will camp ahead of travelling to Gabon, having cancelled a camp in Qatar at the last minute because of funding problems.

The players had refused to train on Thursday and Friday, but did play a scheduled friendly against Zimbabwe on Saturday, which ended 0-0.

The country's president had also called on the team to "put the nation's interest" ahead of their own.

The payment row began in December, when the players demanded 100,000 Pula (+/-R108 000) from the Botswana FA for every member of the final 23-man squad, plus a R16 000 bonus per win, and R8 000 per draw for the group stages.

The squad also asked for a P35,000 (R38 000) incentive for each player should they progress to the knock-out stages, and an increase in their daily allowance from P100 (R108) to P500 (R540) per night.

SuperSport United's Dipsy Selolwane told the BBC: "It's disappointing that at the last minute before we travel, players are still uncertain about the bonuses.

"As much as [we were asking for] a small amount of money, they should be able to manage it without blinking but that proposal was turned down and we were given an ultimatum that either we stay or we go home.

"So we feel that we were not treated right."

But on Sunday Botswana's President Ian Khama urged the players "to put the nation's interests ahead of their own".

SuperSport's Mogogi Gabonamong, a leading figure in the Botswana national team, apparently had a private meeting with BFA CEO Duncan Kgame, Khama and Minister of Sport Shaw Kgathi before the squad departed.

Today, BFA president David Fani told The Monitor: "We will issue a statement how the players would be remunerated, we think the issue has been addressed but rather wait for the staement."

Meanwhile, Tshosane has included injured captain Mompathi Thuma in his final squad for the Nations Cup, but has left out speed merchant Skhana Koko, who has been in a similar situation.

Koko is touted as the next big thing in Botswana football, and his omission has disappointed and surprised the country.

Botswana squad:

Goalkeepers: Modiri Marumo (Bay United, South Africa), Noah Maposa (Gaborone United), Kabelo Dambe (Rollers)

Defenders: Mompathi Thuma (BDF XI), Ndiyapo Letsholathebe (Police XI), Musa Ohilwe (Gaborone United), Mosimanegape Ramohibidu (BMC), Monametsi Kelebale (NICO), Tshepo Motlhabankwe (Mochudi Centre Chiefs)

Midfielders: Mogogi Gabonamong (SuperSport United, South Africa), Joel Mogorosi, Pontsho Moloi, Othusitse Pilane (all Mochudi Centre Chiefs), Boitumelo Mafoko (Santos, South Africa) Ofentse Nato (Gaborone United), Phenyo Mongala (Bloemfontein Celtic, South Africa), Patrick Motsepe, Tshireletso (BDF XI), Mogakolodi Ngele (Rollers)

Strikers: Jerome Ramatlhakwane (unattached), Diphetogo Selolwane (SuperSport, South Africa), Onalethata Tshekiso (Rollers), Moemedi Moatlhaping (Bay United, South Africa)

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Tzozo: 2012-01-10 15:03

"The payment row began in December, when the players demanded 100,000 Pula (+/-R108 000) from the Botswana FA for every member of the final 23-man squad, plus a R16 000 bonus per win, and R8 000 per draw for the group stages".

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Now these amateurs from Botswana are pushing their luck too far. R108 000 appearance fee plus bonuses ? Being neighbours of South Africa does not mean you should behave like South Africans ****** bushmen !

J-one: 2012-01-10 15:13

T-zozo...grow up!

Vico_Mahoota: 2012-01-10 15:42

Hey wena moron Tzozo, thats an insult to us Batswana, we know that issue therefore you dont have spit that sh***t to us, but atleast you must be greatfull that Botswana is goin to represent you at Afcon.
" Being neighbours of South Africa does not mean you should behave like South Africans ****** bushmen !"
Being like you in what?

Foxxx: 2012-01-10 16:01

The IDIOTS of South Africa should just shut up becoz we talking about AFCON finals not som friendly with India, u sweat to get there, no wonder you guys failed.... Not to mention reading them rules

obitseng : 2012-01-10 16:13

Probably it will be the last time they take part in the major tournament and yet they act like pre madonnas,they should grab this opportunity.stupids they should enjoy it while it last as the next time is not promised

rox: 2012-01-10 16:15

thala monna Tzozo, go say that bull to ur role models! u get me punk as@ mada****a! mr editor olerile was not there in stan's team which camped in rasternberg, so plis get ur facts ryt before u ryt all this tjatjarag

rox: 2012-01-10 16:18

yet another moron talks without thinking of his country first@obitseng. u r 1 stupid ful and to think u enjoy ur country qualifying thru hosting tournaments. sweep ur yard 1st before u run to sweep others fooool!

GPBW IS BACK: 2012-01-10 16:29

THE FIRST TEAM TO QUALIFY WILL BE THE FIRST TO BE KNOCKED OUT!
THEY SHOULD LET BAFANA REPRESENT THEM CZ THEY WILL NEVER WIN OR DRAW A SINGLE GAME. I SEE HISTORY BEING MADE BY THE ZEBRAS.

MATCH STATS
BOTSWANA 0 GHANA 12

MIKASA: 2012-01-10 16:47

TZOZO,and yo company u r full of bitterness and jeoulusy,okare Niger elo biditse, and plus yo country did not qualify,coz u South Africans r full of yo selves,but honestly yo national team never get anywhre,i bet if yo were not goin to host next year's afcon u wud stil have failed to qualify,u may have money and all, but u will never buy a ticket to afcon or the world cup mvana,kip on insulting us,da truth is u will be supporting us cum on the 24th of dis month,ga lena choice,Bafana Bafana must be called circus clowns,the ern a lot of money and at the end they dont deliver,hw dissapointing,mxxxxxxxm,SA cows...

Defender : 2012-01-10 17:11

Le tlwaela team ya rona lona ma afrika borwa

msp : 2012-01-10 17:28

Botswana gov sis pay your players,these players are professional soccer players,what a shame?do they think that people still work for free,or civl servants in botswana put the country first and sacrifices their wages for the country,Sies man

chronic2001: 2012-01-10 17:59

eish mare south africans are full of themselfs but most of them are plain stupid,i wonder which team they are going to support at afcon,zebras is better than that social team(team ya sontaga) they call a national team
their squad is made up of chiz boys with funny hair styles and they fail to deleiver.incase you don know zebras are going to be given what they want

chronic2001: 2012-01-10 18:08

kante magodunyana a south africa bare go rileng

Me : 2012-01-10 18:16

Eish editor, I thought u meant chiefs

makolobe : 2012-01-10 18:46

eish south afri-cans' no wonder callng k/chips zebras, you knw everythng that s happening here n botswana. Zebras are going to make batswana proud nd wicked s/afri-cans-ghananians wl be left wth their khune's mind games.

Amkhosi : 2012-01-10 19:00

Mxm botswana jst lyk niger dy goin add numbers in afocn dy qualifd by fluke.fluke dnt wrk in africa i wonder hw fluke fc(rats) wil cope in africa

OTIS GAORUTWE: 2012-01-10 19:13

U know what u south africans fools,U will always remain that way.u HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE AND MONEY .MARE WHY ARE U FAILING TO QUALIFY 4 BIG TOURNAMENT?DA REASON IS SIMPLY,U DONT HAVE QUALITY .PERIOD.SWALLOW YR PRIDE U FOOLS.BOTSWANA HAS IMPROVED A LOT LE TA SALA FOO.

OTIS GAORUTWE: 2012-01-10 19:18

THATS WHY MABURU WHEE KICKING U LEFT,RIGHT AND CENTRE.LE TETSE BRIDE MARE U NO NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL.EVEN OKONKWO ONCE SAID HE IS WASTING HIS TALENT IN YR COUNTRY.HE ONCE SAID SOUTH AFRICANS NO NOTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL,O NE A TETSE MADI FELA.**** OFF

Itunes22: 2012-01-10 19:53

Jealousy South Africans,Well done Zebras!!!But i would like to believe that the team can improve from the way they played against a hand picked Zimbabwe last Saturday.Goodluck to Botswana & Zambia!!!Proud Zimbo!!

TP : 2012-01-10 22:14

When I said people are bitter abt SA,I was called names & insulted.Yet this is still going on.Oh!Itunes ur from Zim?Now I also see why u were full of insults towards me.I also said that people will realize that there is so much hate towards South Africa.This is just the rehearsal of the script & I'm sure we will see main actors in due course.

I have nothing against what Botswana players are asking as is their legitimate right.

What I'm against is people who pretend against our country yet they have true colours of hatred.

tiger : 2012-01-10 22:38

Guys most of us here in Botswana suport S.A futbal,we r olwyz bhnd bafana,why dnt u do th same..Gudluck 2 our boys.Shapa Zebras shapaa.

TP : 2012-01-10 22:51

Tiger!I will be 100 percent behind Zebras as I was 4 qualifiers & I'm sure most Batswana don't have hatred towards SA like some of our neighbors

Itunes22: 2012-01-10 23:59

@TP!!
Dude football is a world game & im very much a big fan of the beautifull game,the very same passion you have about your local game is the same with the passion i have about the Zim game.My intrests of the game knows no boundaries especially when our own Zim players are plying their trade across borders.If your local Super Disk attracts fans within the Southern African region & beyond,its simply because soccer knows no boundaries.It takes respect to get respect,surely this soccer forum should not be about politics or name calling or threats towards foreigners simply because they raised an issue about the SA game.Yes i am what you say i am.

TP : 2012-01-11 00:14

Itunes!I'm not ur dude & will never be.Ur 1 of the people angry at South Africans.For what I don't know.After calling me names & insulting me ur the last person to talk abt respect.U keep having a go @ South Africans but yet u say this is not politics.Anyway keep showing ur true colors.

Itunes22: 2012-01-11 01:01

@TP
What gives u the impression that i give a hoot about what u think i should call u!Are'nt u ashamed to fabricate lies of such nature,your arrogance is taking its toll again,u said "one wonders why xenophobia happens"(your words) simply because a Zambian guy had questioned why Zambia is going to play "a useless BB"(his words)!!You raised a serious issue about causing fatal harm to innocent pple whereas the Zambian guy was talking soccer,therefore i took offence!Any normal being will reject such a threat.All i said was pple like u are a menace to society & of which u are,since common sense is failing u.There u go again making a meal of an issue that u personally tried to turn into genocide.Hell yeah,if all South Africans will resort to xenophobic genocide like u said i will hate them.

Mookamedi: 2012-01-11 08:11

Tzozo boy u have bitten more than u can chew!!go and play against Sachin Tandulker's India team!The boer made you who u're and now le batla go re chegela mo go rona ****** mur.

Donald Duck: 2012-01-11 08:31

Ag Botswana r just adding numbers, they won't even score one goal. They should just let de real zebras (chiefs) represent them @ afcon.

Mookamedi: 2012-01-11 10:14

@Donald.....which one is the real Zebras.i think you smoke Nyaope.Making the finals is better than failing completely.you see the 16 teams that qualified is the difference between giants and minnows.The QUALIFIERS HAS SEPARATED MEN FROM BOYS and you Banana Banana failed to qualify.please dont show us your foolishness by making an issue out assumptions.What makes you think Zebras wont score a goal when they scored to Qualify and had their Striker JJ emerging as top goal scorer among the likes of Mphela of Banana Banana

Rasephetso: 2012-01-11 10:26

Ehe he he he, this TZOZO thing is real idiot!! Lacks class. An incredible disgrace to the human race. Ga wa ithuta go buang boy!

lister: 2012-01-11 10:31

the reason why this south african idiots panic is b cauze the amout is calculated in African POUND PULA Batswana!! but to us is nothing..i suggest thiz guys should be given 1 million each they v made southren region proud to be the best african team of 2011.

rox: 2012-01-11 10:38

U fools waisted money on carlos le bo santana and rememba that even if we go to afcon and dont get a draw or a single point, the fact is we are not the 1st one to do that. afcon 2008 lost all ur gamz and left that place with ur tales between ur legs. so no one is going to rewrite any history except u! u Are the best at that, even failing to qualifying for knockout stages in ur home country at the world cup!

mphahleni: 2012-01-11 12:04

2006 AFCON Bafani Bafani had 0 goal, 0 POINTS AND NEGATIVE GOAL DIFFERENCE AT AFCON..SO DONT TRY TO SAY BOTS WILL MAKE HISTORY..RE TA BO RE BONE KA LONA DITLAELA KE LONA.

2006 AFCON

C Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Guinea 3 3 0 0 7 1 +6 9
Tunisia 3 2 0 1 6 4 +2 6
Zambia 3 1 0 2 3 6 −3 3
South Africa 3 0 0 3 0 5 −5 0

S.A FULL OF SUPRISES..2010 WORLD CUP YOU BROKE RECORD OF BEING THE HOST NATION TO GO OUT IN GROUP STAGES..

2012 AFCON QUALIFIRES ..YOU CELEBRATED TOGETHER WITH YOUR PRESIDENT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GABON ONLY TO FIND THAT YOU WILL BE REPRESENTED BY BOTSWANA..TO MAKE MATTERS WORKS PLAYERS WERE GIVEN R 1 million each of which they were later told to bring back..since maths and rules were not done correctly

NeoSkill: 2012-01-11 13:02

somebody send the ANCYL there rite now!!!!!

sparrow : 2012-01-11 14:58

F***k u south africans spcly tzozo o ditsirr!onli thins u talented in is beind thiefs,murderers and rapists.a boer man have made u animals.

Mosixty : 2012-01-11 15:53

Is there any man in botswana cause they all speak like woman.that's guys from Zim r taking all their woman

ke lekhosi: 2012-01-11 16:13

Ma Africa Borwa le na le mona.

J-one: 2012-01-11 16:40

Mxwm...T-Zozo is not well, i suggest we refer him to Lobatse! I believe not all South Africans are like him and definetely Mr Cebo Manyaapelo is one good example.

Ironduke : 2012-01-11 18:22

Tzozo u sound like Hobbo roaming the Streets of Hillbrow clueless on what's happening in this World,please mfoethu stop being Nasty towards other Nations,be civilised enough,clearly u trying to Reach Out!!!!whatever happened to u in lyf don't take it out on other people.

To you Batswana,its understadable you've been feeling SA people has been belittling your Football,this is not the platform for such nonsense,be civil about the whole thing,don't Expose yourselves..

Hauling insults in Public shows one was not brought up properly!

thati2000 : 2012-01-11 18:44

Lona diso ke lona tsa SA thts why le bona makgowa ba seke bale peka jaana ba tenwa ke bodidi jo, u ar far 4rm us guys re palallana le the whites fela, mabelo rale sia, boxin rea le thipola

The-Rock: 2012-01-12 10:02

South Africans are prideful and arrogant, yet they were slaves to the boers even today, all that which their country has is the toils of white people, our country worked without any help, and are the third richest in Africa and they number 5, ba bolawa ke tlala dikweejane tsee, and illeterate that they wont read nor understand laws and dance like gorrillaz all ova the pitch. Ke gone bannang batho ba makgakga, thats why we come a long with namibians, zimbabweans etc as brothers cuz garea itsholetsa go sa tlhokahale

tlala'se: 2012-01-12 12:05

@DonaldDuck, what a name!.. check ur stats, stupid BB once came empty handed, no point no goal, its football... it wont be a miracle if we do that at Zebras... the best team currently in Africa... ve u ever won that award? atleasts we r debutants... y dont u appreciate tht we represent u moron, "UR TYM IS UP, OUR TYM IS NOW".
U can create ur own afcon by changing the name PSL, coz it seems u failed in many attempts to join us at the real afcon, and the rules are very difficult for ur over-educated and super rich administrators....
Whether u like it or not, n u cant do a thing about it.... ZEBRAS FOR LIFE... we dnt ask for a thing from u... we doing our thing, we get knocked out or we proceed... none of ur ***king business..... get a life... dig a whole n hide until after afcon....

Babe T: 2012-01-12 12:30

shapa zebras shapaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ga rena nako ya batho ba ba bitter,these amatuer team was the first to qualify fo AFCON and BAfana Banyana celebrated their loss, siyaya e Cabon south Africans deal with dat, @ Tzozo ntsa re di bona ko SA di gatakwa ke maburu not here in Bots

MIKASA: 2012-01-12 14:15

TZOZO.mptsa ke wena,UP THE ZEBRAS UP...SHAPAAAAA ZEBRAS SHAPAAAAAAA,amng wareng kana mang o buang,da truth is on the 24th of January Ghana is gonna get it

Angry ZEBRA: 2012-01-13 10:01

f**k u Tzozo ad ur baphona baphona squad!!zebras is te 2011 team of the year..ma south africa le bitter..dats why le bata go supporta bo ghana baba far away frm ya..hahaha asshole!!