The former secretary general (SG) of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) Jochen Traut is adamant the local football governing body’s staff members are resistant to change, and will continue to derail the body’s ambitious plans.
Traut accused staff members at the association of having an interest in advancing their financial gains, rather than serving the interest of football.
He added that half of the staff at NFA either own a club or are involved in a club, which he sees as a conflict of interest.
“One thing I have learned is that many of the football administrators are not there for the sake of promoting football, but they are there for promoting their financial gains. Owning a club and serving NFA cannot be tolerated. It should be addressed, and should stop.
“You cannot be a football regulator, and still be a player or club owner. We have club owners working with inside information, and that doesn’t work,” he stressed.
Traut, who served the NFA for over a year, said his tenure was short but “quite exciting”.
“We have achieved quite a lot through the Normalisation Committee (NC) and the support of Fifa.
“But time was too short; it could have been at least two years to get everything in place, and to ensure that people don’t fall back into old trends because, unfortunately, that is what is happening now again,” he said.
The trends he speaks of are mismanagement of funds and leadership squabbles.
He said this in an exclusive interview with this publication yesterday while reflecting on his journey as the SG.
Traut touched on some of his successes and challenges faced while serving the NFA.
He added that during his time, together with the NC, he had successfully implemented corporate governance, human resource policies and financial regulations, which were previously lacking within the association.
Traut pointed out that they made substantial financial gains, citing a turnaround of N$50 million attributed to prudent budgeting and cost-saving measures.
“We managed to bring in corporate governance, which was non-existent. We also had a budget in place for activities. In the past, there was no budget.
“If you look at the latest financial statements, we made a total profit of N$20 million, versus the statement before the NC took over. There was a loss of N$30 million. So, it’s like a turnaround of N$50 million due to savings.
“Also, one of the biggest highlights was that they put a proper structure in place. We managed to get a sponsor for the topflight football league, but I believe so much could have been done had we had enough time,” he shared.
Traut took over from Jacky Gertze, who previously held the position on a temporary basis.
He is currently working as a consultant for the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia, where he was previously employed as a chief operations officer.
NFA marketing and communications manager Cassius Moetie did not respond to questions sent to him before going to print.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na