After withdrawing their urgent application filed at the High Court on Saturday due to minor defects, the lawyers of African Stars Football Club corrected these flaws, and yesterday again filed their urgent application against the MTC HopSol Youth League.
Stars is challenging the youth league’s decision not to accept the club’s youth teams into the league after having initially agreed to accommodate them, along with almost 24 other youth clubs playing in the country’s biggest youth league.
The league’s leadership is alleged to have taken a decision not to accept Stars’ youth teams because of ongoing football politics and legal battles between Stars’ chairman Patrick Kauta and the country’s football association, the Namibia Football Association (NFA). Kauta is also chairman of the expelled Namibia Premier League (NPL), which has a pending case against the NFA in the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Switzerland. Stars’ youth teams are not interested parties to the ongoing legal standoff between the NFA and Kauta at CAS.
Following their rejection by the MTC HopSol Youth League, Stars resolved to seek refuge with the High Court as they feel the league’s leadership did not provide sufficient legal or legitimate reasons as to why their youth teams were kicked out, despite them meeting all requirements to join the league.
With the amended urgent application now filed with the High Court, the matter is set to be heard this Thursday, and all 24 teams affiliated to the MTC HopSol Youth League have been cited as respondents in the matter. All 24 respondents have until today to deliver their answering affidavits.
-ohembapu@nepc.com.na