MASERU – Only a native of Mohale’s Hoek will understand the true meaning of Majantja FC. Born six decades ago the club have brought untold joy and pride to its people. In that time the team has won two league titles.
Those were the good old days.
Fast forward to 2009 and the picture is very different.
The club is in the midst of its worst period in its illustrious history.
Second bottom in the Premier League and only eight points from fifteen matches, things can’t get any worse.
So what went wrong for the once great club?
Stability is a key prerequisite for any club and unfortunately for Majantja that is almost non existent. The team has no president.
Sello Matete who is supposed to be the president says he is done with the club.
“I am still the elected president of Majantja but I am done with the club,” Matete says.
Elected in December 2006, Matete’s was due for re-election in December 2008 but mismanagement and miscommunication meant nothing could be concluded. As this stand the team has no board directors.
“People have become big-headed. I don’t see eye-to-eye with a few people,” Matete says.
But the crux of Majantja’s problems is that the team only wants to use players from Mohale’s Hoek.
“The people who are running the club don’t want to use players who are not from Mohale’s Hoek. I have players from TY, Mokhotlong and some here in Maseru but none of them are being considered. I have been in football for a very long time and I know that this is no way to run a team,” he said.
That is why I left and now they are failing miserably to run the club.
The results are indeed disastrous.
Majantja have lost their last four games and the last time they won a game was on November 22 against fellow strugglers Sekamaneng Young Stars.
Majantja are the lowest scoring side in the league.
“I have given my best for this club but you take a horse to the pond to drink but if it doesn’t want to I wont,” said Matete.
“My main bone of contention is the fact that after the Mohale Declaration it was agreed that football will be run as a business. Not from one man’s pocket. But when we came back from there those people didn’t want to follow that.”
“I’m one of the best people when it comes to administration in this country. I have been in football since 1963.”
Majantja are three points from the safety zone and it’s hard to see them surviving the axe.
But Matete, a die-hard fan of Majantja hopes for the best. “If Majantja get relegated I don’t know what I will do.”
“I will always hope for the best Majantja because is my team and if they get their house in order they will survive.”
