By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK – The seemingly permanently blundering MTC Namibia Premiership League (NPL) management has been left with egg on the face for the umpteenth time in the aftermath of its laughable resolution to have last month’s abandoned league between Tura Magic and United Stars replayed over the remaining 25 minutes.
The match, which was played on December 6 last year, ended prematurely after the match official called the tie off as a result of a waterlogged pitch due to heavy rains with Tura Magic leading by 4 goals to 1.
The disputed decision to have the match replayed over the final 25 minutes is similar to the one applied during the ill-fated African Stars/FNB Orlando Pirates clash. Stars did not take kindly to the matter and took their grievances to court.
Following some nasty deliberations between Stars and league authorities, the matter was finally settled out of court and the league management admitted that it was an error of judgment on its part to order the remaining eight minutes to be replayed since the abandonment was caused by natural disaster (power outage).
Quizzed to provide New Era Sport with facts as to how the NPL Management Committee (MC) applied its mind, a ducking Tovey Hoebeb – the NPL Chief Administrator, could not provide concrete answers.
“I’ve received instructions from the MC and since the decision was endorsed by the league’s chairperson, I had no choice but to have it implemented,” said a visibly shaken and somewhat confused Hoebeb.
“We have learned with shock and dismay about this strange undemocratic decision, which in our opinion is very much against the spirit of fair play.
“We are just waiting for documentation from the league before further steps are taken, but rest assured we will challenge this injustice with might,” charged a furious United Stars spokesperson, Daniel Namwira.