Despite numerous attempts to get clarity from the Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) director Mabos Vries on Orlando Pirates’ failure to pitch up for last weekend’s match against Life Fighters, New Era Sport has now established that there is more to the saga than meets the eye.
Windhoek-based Pirates were scheduled to play Fighters last Saturday at the SKW stadium in the capital for their round of 18 clash on the same day and time that Mighty Gunners were equally scheduled to face Young African at the Liverpool stadium in Okahandja.
And while both Gunners and African managed to honour their fixture in Okahandja, which ended in a 2-all draw, Pirates, on the other hand, failed to show up at the SKW stadium to honour their match, leaving Fighters who had travelled almost 255km from Otjiwarongo to Windhoek high and dry.
There was no immediate communication or pronouncement from the NPFL about the embarrassing situation, nor was there any statement released by the club to state their side of the incident.
Since last Saturday, the media has been knocking on the door of Vries and no response has been forthcoming. His last reply to this publication, sent last Sunday, was “We are still on holiday”.
Up until today, there has been no official correspondence from the league explaining to the media and public what caused Pirates’ no-show or if there have been any investigations with regard to the matter.
But New Era Sport has since established through multiple sources that Pirates’ failure to pitch for their match was allegedly due to the unavailability of players, as many of the club’s playing personnel are refusing to play due to outstanding salaries.
This author also learned that a great number of players have since parted ways with the club, while some have joined other clubs.
“It is a very embarrassing situation but I must be honest with you here; the club has been struggling to pay players for the past few months and the situation got worse last week when most of the players started refusing to train or play for the club. That situation led to the no-show against Life Fighters last Saturday. It’s very sad and it puts coach Woody Jacobs in a very tough position. There are more league matches lined up for this weekend and we don’t know what will happen,” shared one of the sources.
“But I hear they are working around the clock to fix the situation with the players and hopefully avoid another embarrassing situation.”
Contacted for comment, Pirates’ chairperson Charles Naruseb strongly refuted the claims of players’ unpaid wages, saying the team could not pitch up as most of their players were exposed to food poisoning prior to last weekend’s matches.
“It’s not true at all. We have always paid our players on time and we will continue to do so. Our players were exposed to food poisoning and were unfit to play that weekend; we even communicated this to the NFA and got no response from them. Since we didn’t get any response, we proceeded with resting the sick players. The NFA has still not written to us and we have now resolved to engage them through our lawyers because we don’t know if we forfeited points or what the way forward is,” said Naruseb.
“But the none payment of players is not true, that I can assure you. The players were just sick and could not pitch up. That was real the issue, not what people are telling you.”
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na