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Home / An analytical piece on the MTC/NPL sponsor… are there external forces behind the delay? I’m just asking
An analytical piece on the MTC/NPL sponsor… are there external forces behind the delay? I’m just asking
2017-02-17Staff Report 2 It’s now a well-documented secret that negotiations between the Namibia Premier League (NPL) and giant telecommunications provider MTC have reached a deadlock - leaving football fans swimming in a pool of confusion. This follows the league’s apparent inability to solicit an additional N$9 million from other potential sponsors needed to meet the required tabled budget of N$24 million. Wait a minute, the fundamental question that needs to be raised, and extremely carefully for that matter, should be: If a person comes to you humbly asking for a loaf of bread topped up with a piece of cheese but you (the giver) can only assist him or her with the loaf of bread - would it be fair to demand that the receiver should first find the piece of cheese elsewhere before he or she takes ownership of the loaf of bread? I’m just asking. This is the most ridiculous or rather bizarre response from a reputable institution because common sense would tell us otherwise. Surely, it should be the sole prerogative of the taker to either accept the loaf of bread as presented without the piece of cheese or decline the gesture. Please take note of this commonly used phrase “beggars can’t be choosers”. Logic suggests MTC should have just released the allocated N$15 million without further ado, obviously on stringent conditions. Just a quick reminder, an investment in any kind of relationship must be fairly and equally reciprocated and football is not immune to this notion. Is it perhaps not time for the league authorities and their subjects (clubs) to roll up their sleeves and start looking for funds elsewhere if they are to become self-sustainable. In short, clubs cannot keep being spoon-fed time and again. Needless to challenge the league authorities to get their ducks in the row and start conducting their functions by the book if they are to restore confidence, including patching up the league’s current declining image and market value. Any sober-minded person would have expected the hierarchy to deliberate on how the league can improve their serial fragile product if they are to attract serious potential investors rather than engaging in immaterial proposals to amend the constitution. Even if MTC releases the N$15 million, what measures will be put in place to avoid a repetition of this mess whilst the current status quo remains? I’m just asking. Without beating about the bush, the Achilles heel in domestic football is without an iota of doubt the mushrooming of self-centered power-hungry officials driven by nauseating tribal tendencies, blind loyalty, greed and exaggerated egos, punctuated by misplaced ambitions. Football bosses should design a module of preventative measures because what’s exactly happening now is the culmination of reactionary measures being applied – a situation that could have been easily averted if there were preventative measures in place. By the way, did yours truly hear a chorus of discontent from those pulling the purse strings that some blokes from the powers that be are not exactly comfortable going into a sponsorship deal with the NPL, while the NFA secretary general Barry Rukoro remains in office? HELLO!!! What the hell has Barry got to do with the NPL sponsorship? The brother is merely the chief executive officer (CEO) of the football governing body (NFA) and does not have any jurisdiction over the administration of the country’s flagship league (NPL), unless this is more hogwash to justify personal interests? I rest my case. 2017-02-17Staff Report 2
