Carlos Kambaekwa Shooting From The Hip THERE’S an old saying that a man who is not prepared to die for his neighbour is not fit enough to be called a man and some people have adopted a totally different interpretation of this philosophy. Many Namibians, and rightly so, have developed an undying habit of comradeship with catastrophic consequences at times and the latest shenanigans in our football setup just crystallize this perception It’s a bit awkward that nobody at Soccer House smelled a rat when runaway Premiership log leaders Civics gave the already relegated but formidable Friends outfit a thorough hiding in their last league assignment. Understandably, the match was of very little significance as the Civilians were crowned league champions long before the clash, while the Rehoboth-based team’s return to familiar territory had already been confirmed, but alas, the race for the Golden Boot Award was far from over with Eleven Arrows’ Rudolph Bester and Civics William Chilufya both chasing the fifteen-thousand-dollar first prize. A bad start to their league campaign saw Friends losing lot of ground but Murrs Markus’ young brigade picked up the pieces in the second round and gave a good account of themselves in the latter stages of the league campaign, claiming the scalps of almost all visiting teams at the Saint Joseph’s stadium in Rehoboth.Friends had nothing to play for and only turned up to fulfill their league obligation but Chilufya needed seven goals to overhaul Bester from top spot and the Zambian import duly obliged by rattling the net on seven occasions against opponents who had just conceded a total number of 10 goals in their last six league outings against formidable opponents: Ramblers (4), Tigers (1), SKW (1), African Stars (1), Blue Waters (1), Eleven Arrows (2) Across town, things were also happening in the lower division as the race for promotion intensified with both Fedics and Invincible tied at the top of the Central West Division One. In last weekend’s action, current log leaders Fedics had a date with fourth-placed Deportivo Alaves and the scoreline stood goalless at the changeover, but strange things do happen in African football and Fedics scored 12 goals without reply in the last 45 minutes to all but clinch the title with two more rounds of games remaining. This was clearly reminiscent of the fiasco that unfolded in the Ghanaian second division recently when the two top teams chasing promotion to the elite league scored a combined 59 goals in just 180 minutes, something which did not go down well with football authorities in the West African country. Yours truly had the privilege to watch video footage of those two matches on the weekly Super Sport Soccer Africa show, and I must confess I was crawling on all fours laughing my lungs to pieces after watching professional footballers ducking out of the way trying to avoid any conduct with the opposition as they sliced through the defence at will to score an avalanche of goals with no resistance at all. The Ghanaian Football Association would have none of these shenanigans and taught the culprits a football lesson not to be forgotten, by fining the teams heavily and both teams were ordered to start all over again in the fourth tier division, while the director of one of the teams and former football icon Abedi Pele was suspended from all football activities for two years. However, that decision has been reversed and the matter referred to an Independent Arbitration Panel for further investigation and should the two teams be found guilty of match fixing, it could spell the end of the road for Abedi Pele who is also an Ambassador for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. Big Payday Turn Nasty for Stars’ Players The latest debacle over bonuses between African Stars players and club management could have been avoided if clubs could just run their affairs in a more transparent and professional fashion. It’s a known secret that almost all the teams in the Namibia Premiership are dangerously skating on thin ice, by operating their activities alongside professional guidelines in an amateur setup. Players’ grievances over win bonuses is a well-documented phenomena in domestic football, and two years ago Ramblers players were also reported to be furious about their bonuses after capturing the coveted NFA MTC Cup, following the nail-biting victory over Black Africa in one of the best finals ever witnessed in this particular competition. Clubs must have contracts with their playing personnel regarding their monthly grant or allowance, or whatever terminology they prefer to coin, and this must also stipulate clearly the percentage they would receive should the team win the league or any other major knock-out tournaments during the season. Footballers sometimes forget that running a football club is no mean feat, notably a club like African Stars which has been operating without a sponsor for many years and from an experienced point of view, blokes such as Mbakumua, Patrick and Ta-Les could have been far better off with their bank balances had they not sacrificed their hard earned moolah in keeping the ship afloat. Players want a bigger slice of the cake, while forgetting that somebody else has been footing the bill when days were dark – people need to understand that one first has to offset expenses against income. And whilst I’m not dictating to Stars Management how to compensate their players, the criteria used to dish out the reported N$2 500 and N$500 respectively to players after a windfall of close to half a million dollars is just not making any sense. Football is a team effort and all players including those on the bench should be equally compensated ,and if there were players who were a cut above the rest in terms of performance, fair enough they stood to benefit from the tournament’s awards on offer such as the player of the series, top goal scorer and player of the match awards which all carry decent perks. I hope and trust, for the sake of progress, the sooner this matter is resolved amicably the better, because domestic football can just not afford to have an under-strength African Stars outfit in their midst. I rest my case, so until next Friday, I’m off and have a trouble-free weekend.