Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Ranga Haikali yesterday leapt to great lengths to distance himself from growing perceptions that he is not entirely ‘his own man’ and that he runs the local football federation on the instructions of external forces outside football.
It was all hype and frenzy for local football over the weekend, after a lengthy communiqué from former Black Africa FC executive member Cassius Moetie, who is currently not serving in any football structure, reprimanding Haikali leaked to various social media platforms as well as to the media.
In the leaked message, Moetie reminded Haikali not to change tactics and lose track of the bigger game plan and also further reminded the FA president to remain faithful to the ‘Progressive Forces’, a group that purportedly campaigned for Haikali during the NFA presidency race earlier this year.
New Era Sport has established that the Progressive Forces group consist of former footballers, former clubs executives and chairmen, who all apparently share a common objective of striving to clean up football and establish a new order of normalcy.
“I get the impression that we are doing nothing different from what Frans Mbidi’s executive and all the clowns on that executive, the administration of Barry Rukoro and his corrupt management style, the corrupt NPL executive of Patrick Kauta have been doing…I read comments that Ranga is no longer in conformity with the people who elected him NFA president. I read comments that someone in the executive successfully managed to disk lock the executive from the Progressive Forces. Someone in the executive successfully created camps in the executive. The executive approves appointments in the NFA exactly the same way Barry’s administration have done. So, what right do we have to criticise Barry, if we do the same? We have two-faced people, backstabbers and hypocrites in the Progressive Forces and the executive committee. We have people in the executive who clearly and intentionally drive an agenda of division within the Progressive Forces and executive…we have a president now who is completely different from the candidate we all earmarked for the presidency,” reads part of Moetie’s message, which Haikali yesterday also confirmed came from Moetie.
The message left a bitter taste in the mouths of many and won Haikali little friends, if any, with local football followers concluding that Haikali is being remote controlled by external forces that are pushing their own selfish agenda at the expense of players and the nation at large.
Responding to the message, Haikali yesterday leapt to his own defence saying he is not owned by anybody and no one will dictate to him on how to run the affairs of the NFA.
“Yes, I am a proud member of the Progressive Forces and that is the group that help with my campaign, but the views being expressed by Moetie are not a true reflection of the group and no one will remote control me in any way. I will not be remote controlled. Moetie is not even in any football structure, so I wonder in what capacity is he speaking from. Maybe some people had certain expectations and thought they will get positions when I take over, but that is not the case. As NFA president, I’m here to serve the greater good of all Namibians and our football, not individuals who want to dictate on how I should run the NFA,” fumed Haikali. ohembapu@nepc.com.na