The Court of arbitration for Sport (Cas) has given the Namibia Football Association (NFA) until Thursday this week to provide or submit audio recordings, transcribed record, minutes and all relevant documents pertaining to the vetting process of this year’s NFA elective congress.
Heading into last month’s NFA congress, then contenders for the local football association’s presidency seat Patrick Kauta and Mpasi Haingura both petitioned Cas to contest their disqualification from running for the football federation’s presidency, which saw NFA president-elect Ranga Haikali as the eventual winner.
Kauta, who is chairman of the Namibia Premier League (NPL), was according to the NFA disqualified because he is an active member of the suspended NPL and could thus not qualify. Another reason for disqualification, the NFA said, was that Kauta participated in the removal of a sitting president.
Meanwhile, Haingura who is head of the Kavango East First Division, on the other hand was also disqualified for participating in the removal of a sitting president.
But both Kauta and Haingura, who in their paper to Cas cited the Fifa-installed Normalisation Committee for the NFA as the first respondent and Haikali as the second respondent in the matter, argued that the reasons deposited by the NFA did not warrant disqualification from contesting for positions at congress.
The two appellants maintain that they met all constitutional requirements, which is; they are older than 23 years and less than 70 years of age, have been involved in football for no less than four years and they were nominated by a delegate representing a member.
Kauta also strongly maintains that he did not have voting powers to have then tried to remove a sitting president of the NFA, because as NPL chairman serving on the NFA executive board as an ex officio member, constitutionally he did not have such powers or privileges.
Haingura and Kauta are both challenging that Haikali did not qualify to run for the NFA presidency because he was not involved in football in any executive capacity for the required minimum of four years.
In the latest letter, Cas has given NFA until Thursday, 19 March, to provide or submit audio recordings, transcribed record, minutes and all relevant documents pertaining to last month’s elective congress vetting process. The NFA failed to adhere to an earlier request by Cas to submit the requested documents.
Cas, in their letter, also indicated that the NFA failed to nominate an arbitrator within the prescribed 10 days from the receipt of notice, which was 24 February for the first respondent and 25 February for the second respondent.
The two appellants have already nominated their arbitrator as requested by Cas. Failure by the two respondents to nominate an arbitrator as requested, Cas president for appeals or her deputy will do so on their behalves.
Caption: Kauta jpg – Fighting on… Patrick Kauta