WINDHOEK – The Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) yesterday agreed with and endorsed Fifa’s stance that the dismissal of Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Frans Mbidi was illegal, invalid and the whole process leading up to Mbidi’s sacking was flawed as due process was not followed.
The NSC leadership last Friday held a meeting with NFA’s first and second vice-presidents Dr Naftal Ngalangi and Nunuheb Ludwig, where the NSC notified and explained to the two presidents that the NFA executive committee’s decision to dismiss Mbidi was invalid and illegal as due process was not followed and neither was Mbidi granted an opportunity to state his case.
The NFA executive committee dismissed Mbidi after levelling serious allegations of maladministration, corruption and bribery against him. The committee further claimed that Mbidi failed to refute a report from NFA’s official delegates to the FIFA Congress in Moscow this year that he took money from Moroccan bid officials to vote for that association’s World Cup bid.
Also, NFA’s executive claimed that Mbidi was failing to convene executive committee meetings as per NFA Statutes, in particular Article 34.1; failing to implement executive committee decisions as per Article 38.2 (a); being untruthful and misrepresenting executive committee resolutions to Fifa and CAF, being generally disloyal to the NFA and also rendering the NFA Secretariat ungovernable.
But the NSC, in their press statement issued yesterday, maintained that the decision to dismiss Mbidi is unenforceable.
Fifa recently also dismissed and refused to recognise the NFA executive committee’s decision to sack Mbidi, citing that due process was not followed and there was no supporting evidence to their claims.
The NSC yesterday said: “The NFA executive committee did not comply with its statutes (constitution) in the process of administering a verdict of dismissal of the NFA President; there was no factual evidence provided which could have rendered the NFA President worthy of a dismissal; the NFA executive committee should retract its decision for dismissing the NFA President. The constitution of the NFA should be revised to accommodate good governance, more so for the upcoming executive committee who will be elected at congress. There should be a rigorous training on governance based on the NFA constitution and alike to enable the executive committee to apply their statutes correctly at all times. The NFA President should carry out his fiduciary duties diligently to ensure smooth running of the NFA.”