As the Debmarine Namibia Premiership draws to a close this weekend, confusion reigns among clubs and football enthusiasts in terms of the outcome of several forfeited matches and how it affects the log standing, particularly relegation.
At the start of the league in November last year, many detractors insisted that clubs were not ready, citing inadequate time for players’ preparation and insufficient funds to finance the clubs.
However, despite these concerns, the Fifa-appointed Normalisation Committee successfully brought football back to the country since the end of the 2018/2019 season, which saw Black Africa win and African Stars end runners-up.
Now, a hastily-arranged disciplinary committee (DC) must determine the outcome of several forfeited matches which could have an impact on relegation. For instance, a scheduled match between Orlando Pirates and Life Fighters could not take place because the Pirates players were unable to honour that game. The same is true for Julinho Sporting and Citizens, who also failed to show up for their respective matches.
In mid-April, Pirates players failed to show up for a clash against Life Fighters due to alleged claims of unpaid player wages, but the club’s chairperson Charles Naruseb strongly refuted such assertions, saying the team could not pitch up as most of their players were exposed to food poisoning prior to that match.
A DC has been set up to address the matter, according to NFA secretary general Jurgen Traut.
“We understand that it is a pressing issue, but we are giving it the necessary attention with the newly-established body. The decision regarding the forfeited matches will be made after the committee meets on Friday, and this will help us move forward,” he said.
In the meantime, Traut also confirmed that relegation and promotion will be enforced once the league concludes this weekend.
Debmarine Namibia in October last year committed N$13 million towards the top-flight league, with N$8 000 000 allocated to clubs as start-up grants, while prize money amounts to N$2 580 000.
Namibian football came to a standstill at the end of the 2018-2019 season after the Namibia Premier League refused to adhere to a Namibia Football Association instructions not to relegate Civics and Orlando Pirates at the end of that season along with Young African. This led to protracted legal squabbles between the NFA and NPL leadership in the High Court, then Supreme Court and later the Court for Arbitration in Sport in Switzerland.
The impasse saw MTC withdraw its premier league sponsorship in July 2020 when matters were still not resolved.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na