If one thing is allowed to happen then this will inevitably trigger a chain of subsequent undesirable events, just as you knock one domino and it will topple the next and so on.
Yours truly is completely at sea trying to digest whether newly crowned Namibian champions Tigers’ decision to boycott the MTC Premiership season end annual awards was done in good faith.
Dear readers, please allow me to be neutral in my assessment of the question of whether there is an independent justification on the assumption that the 2015/2016 MTC Premiership champions were undermined – or disrespected for that matter – by the NPL’s decision to reschedule… Ooops… “resuscitate” the gathering, meant to be the cherry on top of the cake of an otherwise exciting football season.
For starters, I honestly have sympathy for the country’s oldest football entity, but I certainly don’t condone the childish manner in which they aired their grievance. Tigers were behaving as if this gathering was solely theirs – even though they were going to be chief beneficiaries.
Let me put it this way, the day before yesterday – Wednesday to be precise – the annual Dr Hage Geingob Cup was launched at the posh Windhoek Country Club, right? Let’s say this event was to be shifted to the uphill Thule Hotel in Eros, were Tigers also going to adopt the same attitude and boycott it because the venue is not to their liking?
I’m just asking
As a bona fide member of the country’s flagship league (NPL), boycotting any event under the auspices of the NPL – to which you are signatory of its code of conduct constitutes an act of misconduct, insubordination and flagrant disregard for directives.
This is the same as deliberately failing to pitch up for a scheduled league fixture, simply because the playing turf or venue is not your cup of tea, nor your mug of java.
Hold on! Before you start roasting and accusing me of being biased in my analysis of this ugly debacle that could have far-reaching repercussions for the future of our football culture – the conflicting versions of NPL spokesperson Cassius Moetie (NBC Soccer Pitch) and charismatic chairman Johnny “JJD” Doeseb (Nice Restaurant) need to be interrogated.
I must doff my Korrie for Bro JJD, for his bold admission that the cash-strapped NPL is damn low on funds – hence the eleventh hour relocation of the event from the posh Safari Court Hotel to the less glamorous and somewhat pocket-sized Nice Restaurant.
Moetie’s attitude on the live televised show (Soccer Pitch) last Thursday certainly did not inspire or convince those who dared listen to him, nor the Tigers hierarchy, because his explanation was all about the NPL prerogative.
My learned colleague, Bro Cash, failed to demonstrate remorse, if any, nor was he apologetic, or felt obliged to provide satisfactory answers towards the affected parties.
Yours truly, is perfectly sure many of you would scorn to own me in a lie if I conclude Tigers would not have taken that route had they listened attentively to the reasons articulated by the NPL chairman.
For the sake of football, let us all pray and hope MTC will not pull the plug by resolving not to renew their massive sponsorship, which came to an end during the just-ended football campaign.
Robbing Peter
to pay Paul
The format of the annual season-ending Dr Hage Geingob Cup needs to be reviewed and revised, so to speak. My understanding is that Tigers gained automatic entry into the two-day football bonanza by virtue of being the MTC Premiership champions for the 2015/2016 season.
Lo and behold, if the organisers used the yardstick of last season to determine participants, why the exclusion of Julinho Sporting, Flamingoes and United Stars, who were part and parcel of the 2015/2016 league campaign?
I’m just asking… obviously encouraged by what logic would suggest. The inclusion of Chief Santos, Young African and Life Fighters goes very much against conventional wisdom, because the trio did not form part of the 2105/2016 term.
I rest my case.