Local athletics coach Letu Hamhola has lost his appeal against the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) and Athletics Namibia (AN).

The coach, who is also a senior sports officer at the sports ministry, last year launched an appeal against a decision of the NSC and AN not to nominate him for the Coach of the Year category during last year’s Namibia Annual Sports Awards. 

In his appeal, Hamhola also protested the omission of runners Johannes Nambala and Ananias Shikongo from the category of Sports Star of the Year, which was won by Olympic medallist Christine Mboma. 

Addressing journalists on Friday, NSC chief administrator Freddy Mwiya said the Appeals Committee dismissed Hamhola’s case but did not immediately give reasons as to why the case was dismissed, saying an official written verdict will be shared today.

“The case was dismissed, and the Namibia Paralympic Committee (NPC) was ordered to review their constitution. A written verdict will, however, be handed down on Monday (today). As the NSC, we followed the rule book and we did the right job. I think that’s why the case was dismissed,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hamhola said: “We will only comment after we receive the reasons for the dismissal of the appeal. We also need to review those reasons and make an informed decision on the way forward.”

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na