GU in early relegation trouble

Club was docked three points in August

BONGANI MALUNGA

Gaborone United is one of Botswana’s most decorated teams but they have fallen on hard times in the last 18 months. For a club of GU’s stature a crisis would be failing to make the top eight but this season they appear to be in deeper problems with the threat of relegation increasingly becoming a worry for Moyagoleele in the early rounds of the 2018/2019 BTC Premiership season.
Financial problems saw the club lose head coach Rodolfo Zapata as well as the attacking trio of Tumisang Orebonye, Kabelo Seakanyeng and Thatayaone Kgamanyane. The club was forced to sell their best players in order to keep their finances in order.
The three players carried an attacking threat which helped the club stay afloat despite their struggles last season with Orebonye and Kgamanyane scoring double figure goal tallies. Another factor which contributed to their current struggle was the point deduction which came as a result of their failure to meet a FIFA ordered deadline (August 26) to have paid former player Bismarck Appiah $39 500 (approximately P400 000).
If GU had complied and processed the payment earlier they would have been in a better position on the log, the club should have six points on the log according to their results (one win and three draws) but their punishment robbed them of three valuable points.
The Gaborone giants are currently situated in the 15th spot on the BTC Premiership log. Their only registered win of the season was against fellow slow starters Mochudi Centre Chiefs, Moyagoleele have also failed to win in their last three games.
This past weekend Orapa United rubbed salt on GU’s wound by beating them 3-1, the defeat plus Chiefs’ 2-1 victory over Security Systems on Sunday saw GU drop one place to 15th on the league table. GU still has a lot of time to turn things around and they will be eager to improve their form after the international break.