Maqonda Ndlovu
The Coaches Association of Namibia (football) says they feel prejudiced by the Normalisation Committee (NC) at the NFA.
This follows the confirmation of the membership structure and congress composition of the NFA by the International Federation of Association Football (Fifa) last week.
Speaking to New Era Sport, Marcello Wakudumo, the interim secretary general of the coaches, said they are not happy that they will not be part of congress despite applying to be a member of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) last year.
“The current statutes recognised the coaches’ association as a member because, at the time of applying to be a member, we qualified through the statutes. We followed due process to put in our application; the NFA just acknowledged receiving our application, and the matter is with the NC,” Wakudumo said.
He added that they have been promised a response from the NC since last year, but nothing has come to fruition.
Wakudumo said they will submit their application again before the extraordinary congress that is set to take place soon.
“The upcoming extraordinary congress is meant to approve the new NFA constitution. We will make sure that our application is in so that it can be looked at and hopefully our membership is confirmed,” Wakudumo said.
When asked about rumours of sabotage of his organisation by other coaches, Wakudumo said the NC should not allow ‘other coaches’ to influence decisions regarding their application.
“We feel prejudiced because Futsal applied way after us, but they are now recognised as a member of the NFA ahead of us. Article 10(1)(g) of the NFA constitution clearly stipulates that we qualify to be members of the NFA,” he said.
When contacted for a comment, acting SG of the NFA, Jochen Traut, said the application by the coaches is still under consideration based on the outcome of the new statutes.
Wakudumo rejected this claim, claiming that although the NC had admitted Beach Football and Futsal as members, the current statutes do not allow for their membership.
“As I said, we applied last year; why should we wait for the new statutes? How did Futsal and Beach Football, who are not listed in the old statutes, get admitted? It’s unfair,” he fumed.
Traut said that before working on the new statutes, the NC consulted Fifa, who in turn advised them that coaches will no longer be members of football federations, hence their decision not to approve their application.
He added that the issue will be discussed at the congress which will approve the statutes, and the outcome will be communicated.