THE confirmation bias is the mother of all misconceptions. In all fairness, the tendency to interpret new information so that it becomes compatible with existing theories, beliefs and convictions is very common among many people.
In other words, we filter out any new information that contradict our existing views (disconfirming evidence), which is in fact a very dangerous practice, since facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. What human beings are best at doing is interpreting all new information so that their prior conclusions remain intact. That’s the bottom line! The drawn out saga between African Stars and the country’s football authority the Namibian Football Association (NFA) is very unfortunate and could have been averted had it not been for people with big egos. For starters, yours truly will be humble enough to retract his earlier argument that the NFA Appeal Committee erred by dismissing the appeal, purely on the basis of a technicality because I was under the wrong impression that Stars were treated unfairly as a result of having the sequence of respondents in the wrong order.
In fact, the club never cited the Namibia Premier League (NPL) or Orlando Pirates in their urgent appeal for that matter and instead fingered the NFA, as the guilty party while the latter should have been the facilitator of its grievances. What is questionable is the NFA’s decision to appoint an Appeal Committee that will defend the case levelled against them instead of referring the issue to the presiding body of sports, in this case, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC). This practice raises serious questions over the impartiality and credibility of such an Appeal Committee. Logic suggests that one cannot be the complainant, prosecutor and the magistrate at the same time. I’m just saying.
I really feel pity for my dear friend, Barry Rukoro, who had to endure all sorts of unprintable insults for trying his level best to advise the aggrieved parties accordingly in terms of basic procedures to be followed when filing an appeal. In his genuine quest to have the matter resolved amicably, the NFA resolved to let the matter go ahead, knowing very well that this route is a total waste of time and resources, so to speak. Yours truly is inclined to believe that this gesture was not entirely done in good faith and concludes the NFA made a grave mistake by appointing an Appeal Committee with the sole mandate to grill the association. I’m just saying.
The grapevine has it that the powers that be at Diaz House have vowed to fight tooth and nail and are in fact already making flight arrangements to take their case to Zurich. Should this threat prove to be true, I’m afraid it will be another waste of time and resources because as it stands, the club erred by charging the NFA instead of the NPL. Stars will not have a leg to stand on. My sincere advice is for both parties to swallow their pride, acknowledge their error of judgement, bury the hatchet and reopen talks for the sake of football if we are to have this ugly episode behind us, before the conclusion of league activities. I rest my case.