Moorosi Tsiane
FORMER Kick4Life director of football Chris Bullock is earmarked to become the new chief executive officer at Lioli, the Lesotho Times can reveal.
According to a source close to the deal, Bullock is expected to start his job as soon as the former president, Lebohang Thotanyana, returns to his old position.
Thotanyana left the presidency at the end of last season when the team went for elections but the new committee that was elected failed to last a year with four of its top leaders resigned one after the other.
The quartet of presidents started resigning at the beginning of this year.
Acting president Itumeleng Mpokathe was the last quits in March 2020 following in the footsteps of president Tšeliso Tekateka and two vice presidents; Lehlohonolo Thotanyana and Tšeliso Mou. Mpokathe has been acting in Tekateka’s place.
The team is now under the committee led by Lesaoana Lephethesang as the interim president.
The team was supposed to go for its annual general meeting this month and also call for a special congress but it was denied a permit by the police due to the new coronavirus regulations.
Thotanyana confirmed that he indeed has big plans for the club if he wins the elections and returns to the Lioli hot sit.
“Of course, we have been talking with him (Bullock),” Thotanyana said.
“We want him to be the part of the new era of Lioli because we have very big plans for the team. We are now targeting to professionalise it.
“But also, this will only depend on my re-election as president when the elections are finally held because the current committee has been reluctant in calling for an AGM which will in turn call for a special congress,” Thotanyana said.
If all goes according to plan, Thotanyana hopes to restructure the team in such a manner that limits the executive committee’s involvement in the day to day running of the team.
“We are planning to bring some changes in the teams’ administration. I believe we need to have a CEO who will be working closely with the general manager who in turn will be handling administrative issues.
“We also going to keep the marketing position and also we need a team manager to who will also report to the CEO. The executive committee will just be overseeing the processes. I think the problem posed by working with an elected committee is that they will be working on voluntary basis so we at times encounter problems.
“However, if we have people who are hands on in day to day running of the team, it will be easy because they will be accounting to the executive committee,” Thotanyana said.
Thotanyana still remains the most successful Lioli president with 16 trophies and ran the club through its most successful patch since 2008.
He said he approached Bullock because he wants someone with a vision of turning things around.
“The biggest challenge in all our local teams is administration, hence I decided to approach Bullock. I needed someone with a vision, who can help turn things around here. We already know who we want to sign and the coach we want to bring. So, I guess we will just have to wait and see how the elections go.”
For his part, Bullock was reluctant to comment on the matter saying he was yet to sign any contract with any team.
“I haven’t signed any contract with any team. I understand Lioli have a committee in place but they haven’t contacted me,” Bullock said.
