As a microcosm of life, sport inevitably contains its own moral conundrum with rules and regulations being shifted randomly at the slightest provocation.
This done in the effort to frame something, which obviously more closely corresponds to what feels right and just, but these are issues and areas where there’s no certainty, so to speak – thus we can find ourselves entangled in a moral maze.
As things unfold, it looks like the old adage that says; “don’t do unto others what you would not like to be done unto you” has come back to haunt the embattled Namibia Football Association (NFA) regarding its dismissed president Frans Mbidi.
Mbidi’s grounding by the NFA Executive amounts to the sad scenario of paying somebody back in his own coin. But honestly, what do our football administrators have in common with serial misinterpretation of justice, let alone digesting rules and regulations governing their togetherness?
It all started with the Namibia Premier League (NPL) when the country’s elite football league unsuccessfully tried to throw Katutura glamour football club African Stars out of the equation for standing up to injustices.
In all spheres of life, human beings enjoy the privilege of constitutional rights and must be subjected to a fair trial – even a kid that was adopted from an Orphanage House has a right.
Firstly, it was Mbidi who tried to suspend his trusted right hand Barry Rukoro for apparent insubordination and while the NFA honcho might have a strong case – the move fell through because proper procedures were not followed.
Mbidi was at it again when he prematurely announced that Rukoro’s contract would not be renewed upon expiry of his employment contract.
For the umpteenth time, Mbidi’s attempt to elbow his trusted soldier failed as some executive members vigorously opposed the decision.
The executive, believed to be close allies to the long serving NFA secretary general, opted to pay Mbidi back in his own coin by filing a motion of no confidence. However, it needed the timely intervention of the world’s football governing body FIFA to nullify the resolution to suspend the NFA president.
One would have expected that lessons were learned from all these embarrassing failures to correctly interpret basic rules. From what yours truly gathered, the NFA Executive resolved to extend Rukoro’s employment contract to run concurrently with the term of the executive until December and Mbidi was signatory to this resolution.
Strangely, he went ahead and drafted a letter to FIFA informing the world’s football governing body not to recognize Rukoro as NFA SG – very much against the spirit of FIFA’s “Fair Play” motto.
In turn, the NFA Executive retaliated slapping the defiant NFA honcho with dismissal, nogal without a proper hearing.
What puzzles the mind is how blokes entrusted to run a public institution of such magnitude would allow themselves to be blinded by revenge – at the expense of logical thinking – let alone the simple application of moral and integrity.
To my learned colleagues in blue suits at Football House – it’s a well-documented secret that the NFA Executive has an axe to grind with its unrepentant head, but unfortunately you cant’ be the complainant, prosecutor and magistrate all in one piece at the same time.
Due process should be allowed to take its course, simple as that. Logic suggests that one can’t be the complainant and adjudicator simultaneously, subsequently passing judgement whilst imposing sanction – your integrity and impartiality will be gravely compromised.
And by way, did I hear a bird singing loud that Mbidi has apparently accepted a hefty sum of moolah as a bribe from the Moroccan World Cup bid?. From what yours truly understands, this incident happened in January this year but why is it only thrown into the public domain now after the fallout with Mbidi – that’s another blow below the belt in the hope of hoping paying the brother back in his own coin.
This unpleasant episode was, I suppose, unintentionally occasioned by indiscretion on the part of all parties involved in this debacle – so you made the bed, sleep in it. I rest my case.