SHOOTING FROM THE HIP
Carlos Kambaekwa
Of course, there are times when one wishes one could turn back the clock for good measure, but alas, what happened on the football pitch at the SKW Stadium midweek brought some not-so-pleasant memoirs from the mid-70s when commonsense was a serious crime in township soccer.
Those were the days when survival depended on who you were associated with – the times when every Tom, even Dick, and never mind Harry would stand up and listen carefully whenever the real toughies spoke, very much against the spirit of intellectuality.
Those were the days of Pirates, the envy of Dolam residents (not Orlando Pirates) please pardon me, yours truly is referring to the notorious Gold and Black outfit which bred real toughies such as the late Kamundu, Ou Chris, Moles, Friedel and “King of the Acrobatic Kick” Brazello Haoseb, the only skilled footballer to have ever come out of that enclave.
Pirates was a team of real toughies and used to be very difficult opponents to play against – certainly not for their prowess on the playing field – but for their cunning way of changing the laws of the game at any given time whenever the odds were stacked against them.
These strongly built and darkish hide brothers from Dolam, (the bulk of them slaving at Pampe Engineering) used to have an absolutely different interpretation of justice and would resort to every visible clause in the book of tricks to secure victory, notwithstanding their limited ability in dealing with the real McCoy.
Enough said!
So let us go back to our focal point and tackle the issue hands on! Football was brought into disrepute for the umpteenth time when confused football officials scattered all over the pocket-sized SKW pitch like headless hoenders on Wednesday evening.
At the centre of the dispute was Black Africa’s protest that the appointed match official and FIFA Accredited referee Mathew Katjimune, ostensibly had one too many of the Haya Water of Moag – an allegation that was hotly contested by the implicated match official.
Black Africa acted within their right to dispute the fitness level of any match official if they saw fit, but the whole exercise was blown out of proportion by the inability of those entrusted with the application of the laws of the game – on this particular occasion, FIFA Accredited Referees Instructor, one Edward Boy-Boy Ndjadila.
Ndjadila, who obviously appointed himself as Match Commissioner for the ill-fated match had all the powers vested in him by the laws of the game as stipulated by the FIFA statutes – giving him the sole responsibility to take whatever decision he might have deemed fit when Black Africa brought the issue to his attention.
The veteran football administrator retaliated by hauling off the accused official from the list and immediately replaced him with the 4th official based on the protest – only to renege on his decision and reinstate the fingered referee after some fierce objection by the very same implicated official, citing inconclusive evidence, and rightly so.
The referee was also within his constitutional right when he refused to recuse himself, as that would have given credibility to the unproven serious allegations against him, which could potentially damage his reputation.
Remember the brother is not just your ordinary bloke around some unlit street corner – this is a FIFA Accredited Referee and the country’s number one whistle man whose promising refereeing career has been put at stake, big time!
The real culprit in the above fiasco is none other than the Match Commissioner, who added weight to Black Africa’s claim by his indiscretion in agreeing to replace the accused match official just to make a sudden U-turn – creating a traffic jam in the process.
Knowing the inner doings of our football administrators – nothing will come of these shenanigans and yours truly bets his last penny, the ill-fated match will just be re-scheduled with nobody being taken to task.
After all, who is to investigate whom?
As long as we continue to allow a scenario of the blind leading the blind – the status quo will remain until such time as an Independent Dispute Resolution Chamber is established.
And for those of you who are itching to show the Namibian Football Association the middle finger for the above fiasco – save your blushes, at least for the time being, this is entirely a beat of the Namibia Premier League and has nothing to do with the mother body. I rest my case.