What could have been a successful story of building dreams for Free State youngsters in football ended up as agony for the two co-founders of the most promising ABC Motsepe football club, D’General FC.
The club founded by Lesedi FM’s energetic radio host, Nyakallo “Ba2cada” Leine and former Bafana Bafana midfielder, Kamohelo Mokotjo, faced
financial difficulties, and the duo had to give up the club.
The club was put on sale three weeks ago by Ba2cada and Mokotjo. Ba2cada said that JDR Stars, a Pretoria-based outfit, had made an offer to purchase the status of D’General, however, the sale is not yet concluded.
When the team was formed seven years ago, Ba2cada and Mokotjo, who plied his trade in Europe and the US playing for teams such as FC Twente, Brentford and FC Cincinnati, aimed high to produce great footballers in Free State. However, their attempts to keep the club afloat failed.
D’General, which had attracted massive support from the fans of the now defunct Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars, saw multitudes of fans flocking to their matches at Botshabelo Stadium and Toyota Stadium.
Ba2cada told Sunday World this week that the decision to sell the team was not easy, as they took into consideration the pain this action would cause to 45 youngsters who were part of the players and technical team.
“We really tried to salvage the team with all the powers we had, but we failed due to financial challenges.
“To be honest, selling the club was the last option. We tried everything in our power to get Free State businesspeople and the government involved, but our efforts were fruitless.
“We were doing this for the pride of Free State, but nobody wanted to lend a helping hand. Unfortunately, that’s how the story of D’General ends, and there is nothing we can do at all,” said Ba2cada.
He also pointed out that they would spend more than R120 000 a month to run the team from their own pockets. They needed to book Botshabelo Stadium for training sessions and games; they had travelling costs across the province; they were also taking care of food, accommodation of the players at the clubhouse; fees for the education of the players who were not from the area; as well as paying the entire squad and technical team stipends.
“Honestly, it has been a hell of a ride. We did this for the love of football and also to remove youngsters from the streets, and to discourage them from committing crimes.
“However, as things stand, we hit a cul-de-sac. We knocked everywhere, but we failed, and this is the painful thing for us and these kids [players], who were hoping that the team would take them places,” said Ba2cada.
He explained further that what saddened him was that people with deep pockets in this province did not come on board to invest in these young dreamers. “The team had helped towards creating jobs for SMMEs in Botshabelo and other parts of the province,” he said.
“If we had people like those in Gauteng, who know the importance of developing talent, we could have had businesspeople and companies investing in this initiative, but nobody seemed to have shown interest.
“We really went the same route as Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic, as they both failed due to financial support,” he added.
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