A lot has been said about the ceaseless infightings that have bedevilled the Namibia Football Association (NFA) Football House in Katutura – but sadly, very little progress has been made in bringing lasting solutions to the fore.
Just last weekend, the NFA held its 30th ordinary congress in the capital, where the association’s more than 20 members voted unanimously in favour of dismissing members of the FA’s executive committee. Whether or not that ordinary congress and its decisions were legal, that remains a debate for another day.
That Ordinary Congress was a flagrant disregard of the Confederation of African Football’s recent directive, which ordered the NFA to desist from holding any further gatherings until CAF and world football governing body FIFA provides a clear roadmap on the future of the NFA and that of Namibian football in general.
In its memo to the NFA leadership, CAF said it would be sending a delegation to Namibia this month to present a clear roadmap to all local football stakeholders.
CAF’s directive to the NFA was in all sincerity aimed and intended to avoid exactly what transpired last weekend – the dismissal or removal of an elected executive committee.
As we speak, the NFA is currently leaderless, and its secretary general Franco Cosmos is doubling as the head of the secretariat and executive, following the well-orchestrated removal of the executive committee.
With no leadership in place, no active league football and dry coffers that have resulted in the non-payment of national team players, the NFA is starting to show all the hallmarks of a juggernaut, which destroys everything in its path.
But then again, we ask, who should come to their rescue?
It is a very difficult question to ascertain because the NFA is currently a captured organisation being run with an iron fist by the mafia-like “Progressive Forces”, who are there to advance their malevolent agenda at the expense of our footballers.
We now hear that Cosmos is planning to call an elective extraordinary congress in weeks to come so that they elect a new executive committee.
But we doubt if the planned elective extraordinary congress will provide the needed solutions because Cosmos and his crew will obviously pick and choose rogue individuals from their infamous “Progressive Forces”, who will only come in to further advance their agenda.
That means for as long as the NFA and its secretary general Cosmos are in the back pockets of the “Progressive Forces”, unchaining our footballers from this nightmare will require punitive and extraordinary efforts from external operatives such as CAF and FIFA.
Efforts by the sports ministry and sponsors such as MTC as well as many other stakeholders, including the media, to try and unite football leaders have all fallen on deaf ears. The only solution left on the table is to go the disruptive route.
What Namibian football needs at this point is to start over – even if it means disrupting a few protocols and norms to get things up and running again.
What we currently need is urgent intervention from CAF and FIFA to dismantle and rearrange the NFA’s top structure through the appointment of another normalisation committee.
Where our football finds itself right now, only another FIFA normalisation committee will be able to provide the much-needed conducive environment that can enable dialogue and solutions forged.
But another FIFA normalisation committee can only succeed if the appointing authorities make sure that credible people with proven football knowledge are recommended and appointed to serve this time around.