After expelling the Namibia Premier League (NPL) as a member of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) at Saturday’s 16th extra-ordinary congress in the capital, NFA president Ranga Haikali further announced that the league will be notified to vacate Football House soonest.
The NPL was at the weekend expelled by the NFA extra-ordinary congress after a substantial 19 out of the 21 delegates supported the motion to banish the league, while only two delegates moved against ousting the country’s topflight football league.
As a result of the terminated relationship between the two entities, NFA is now looking at removing the league’s secretariat from the premises of Football House in Katutura, with the plan of making way for the envisaged breakaway topflight league that will replace the NPL in coming months. Putting issues into context yesterday, Haikali told New Era Sport that the NPL secretariat will politely and fairly be asked to start vacating the Football House, where they have been lodging rent free for the past 10 years.
The NFA, Haikali assured, will not be vindictive and kick the league’s staff out on the streets but will instead conduct the process in a mutual and friendly manner, maintaining that the league’s employees will not be allowed to conduct any work-related activities at their current offices in Football House unless they are coming there to collect their personal belongings.
“In no way will the NFA be vindictive and instantly just kick the league employees out, but we will approach the situation in a fair and just manner because at the end of the day, we are not enemies. The relationship between the two bodies ended on Saturday and that means the NPL is no longer an NFA affiliate, therefore it is only reasonable for them to vacate Football House but like I said, in a fair and just manner. I don’t want to mention a particular timeframe on when they should vacate Football House, but I want it to be soonest,” said Haikali.
Asked if the current NPL employees, many of whom were caught in the crossfire between the two entities, will be considered when the new league is up and running, Haikali further assured that the current NPL employees will not be denied opportunities to serve football under the new structure if their services are deemed necessary for the growth of the local game.
“Like I said, many of these people [NPL employees] are unfortunately victims of circumstances and I understand their situation. You have people like Tovey //Hoëbeb (NPL administrator) and Lorraine Gowases (NPL secretary & registration officer), these are knowledgeable people and the NFA has over the years invested money in their training on issues of stadium security and others. So, if the new league needs that kind of knowledge, why should we not consider? We are not enemies, that should be clear to all,” explained the renowned businessman.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na