Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) insists that Young African will not retain its Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) membership unless the club pays the Namibia Premier League (NPL) N$100 000 by the close of business today.
THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) insists that Young African will not retain its Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) membership unless the club pays the Namibia Premier League (NPL) N$100 000 by the close of business today.
The club from Gobabis is asking the NFA, which falls under a Fifa normalisation committee, why it is acting as the NPL’s creditor, given that the latter stopped being a member of the NFA in 2020 after being dismissed for bringing football into disrepute.
The Namibian Sport is privy to leaked written correspondence between NFA interim secretary general Jochen Traut and Young African from late September to Wednesday, in which the national football mother body initially asked for the funds to be paid into its account, but then changed its tune after the defiant club called out its error.
The NFA now requires Young African to furnish proof of payment to the NPL for outstanding monies, which are part of a 14 July 2020 judgement handed down by the NFA appeals committee in the dispute between the NPL and Young African.
The decree stipulated that the club’s banishment from the NPL be replaced with a N$100 000 fine as a condition to be under the NFA or NPL’s auspices.
On 18 July, an NFA extraordinary congress voted to expel the NPL as a member. The NPL owes the NFA N$200 999,75 in costs for subsequent high and supreme court case losses against the NFA.
Traut acknowledged that the NPL is no longer an NFA member, but the association will continue acting on its behalf.
“The NPL is not a defunct entity. In fact, the league is duly constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Namibia Sports Act, registered with the Namibia Sports Commission,” Traut informed Young African.
“While we accept that the NPL remains an expelled member of the NFA, and since, by your own admission, the judgement does not state that payment is to be made to the NFA, it would then be correct that to comply with the judgement in full, that payment be made to the NPL, irrespective of its current,” he said.
The NPL is now a rival national football body with plans to kick off a professional league that has no ties to the NFA, which recently overturned bans for NPL executives who were simultaneously excommunicated along with the league for the same reasons.
The decision by the normalisation committee to overturn the NPL executives’ expulsions without the consent of NFA members has reignited tensions in the already fractured football fraternity.
Fifa has repeatedly instructed the NFA to recognise one top tier league only, and not a breakaway structure. The NFA has to administer all organised football in Namibia, Fifa directed.
Young African argues that the NFA is “conveying instructions that you were not properly supported by the NFA statutes and the NFA rules and regulations”.
Furthermore, the NPL does not exist, and any objection to its membership renewal should be registered by the NPFL, the club contests.
When denouncing its NPL affiliation in favour of the NFA-backed NPFL, Young African pledged to uphold the NFA statutes which prohibit maintaining any relations with entities that are not recognised or members that have been suspended or expelled by the NFA.
The NFA as a whole is bound by the same regulations, Young African said.
“The NPFL is the only body mandated to directly instruct our club to comply with any decision if any,” Young African wrote to Traut in their second letter of objection.
FOOTBALL LOGIC
The previous NFA regime held the same view of the matter as Young African, allowing the club to compete in the NPFL Transitional League and MTC NFA Cup Aweh.
Young African finished third in the cup competition, while the transitional league ran out of funds to complete its programme.
“Your argument that the NPL is not a defunct entity circumvents footballing logic. We take note that the NPL is registered with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), but what does it have to do with the NFA?,” Young African protested.
“Firstly, the NPL registration with the NSC was not recognised by Fifa. Secondly, our club has resigned from the Namibia Premier League on 12 October 2020, and joined the NPFL after invitations by the same to do so,” Young African continued.
“The new NPL section 21 (not for gain), which is registered with BIPA and the Namibia Sports Commission, was only registered after the expulsion of the former by the NFA.
“We are not a member of the NPL, and neither is the NPL a member of the NFA, and our continued existence as a member of the NPFL cannot be subject to fulfilment of conditions pertaining to a non-member of the NFA.”
The NFA is running a personal witch-hunt against Young African on behalf of the NPL, the club charged.
In February this year, the NPL invited Young African to form part of its new structures.
“The NPL did not make the payment of the fine condition to us joining its league, meaning in hindsight that at least in its invitation to our club, it has abandoned their claim to the payment of this fine,” Young African said.
“Legally and technically [the NFA] cannot successfully pursue this matter against our club as the NFA is a third party in this matter.
“Young African is already a member of the NPFL, and the club can only lose its membership through relegation or expulsion from the league.”
ROOT CAUSE
Young African registered their grievances with the NFA appeals committee after being demoted from the NPL to the first division on 21 January 2019.
This is was after the NPL disciplinary committee found the club guilty of fraudulently registering and then fielding a Zimbabwean national using a forged passport in 28 of their 30 league matches during the 2017/18 season.
The club was also slapped with a N$50 000 sanction, on top of being docked all points accrued from matches in which Tapiwa Simon Musekiwa featured as Albert Mujikijera.
After purportedly serving a seven-match ban, Musekiwa went on to play for African Stars in their title-winning 2018/19 campaign.
The NFA appeals committee ruled that the NPL disciplinary committee “imposed a different sentence from that agreed to between the parties” without “clear reason nor justification”.
The club from Gobabis is asking the NFA, which falls under a Fifa normalisation committee, why it is acting as the NPL’s creditor, given that the latter stopped being a member of the NFA in 2020 after being dismissed for bringing football into disrepute.
The Namibian Sport is privy to leaked written correspondence between NFA interim secretary general Jochen Traut and Young African from late September to Wednesday, in which the national football mother body initially asked for the funds to be paid into its account, but then changed its tune after the defiant club called out its error.
The NFA now requires Young African to furnish proof of payment to the NPL for outstanding monies, which are part of a 14 July 2020 judgement handed down by the NFA appeals committee in the dispute between the NPL and Young African.
The decree stipulated that the club’s banishment from the NPL be replaced with a N$100 000 fine as a condition to be under the NFA or NPL’s auspices.
On 18 July, an NFA extraordinary congress voted to expel the NPL as a member. The NPL owes the NFA N$200 999,75 in costs for subsequent high and supreme court case losses against the NFA.
Traut acknowledged that the NPL is no longer an NFA member, but the association will continue acting on its behalf.
“The NPL is not a defunct entity. In fact, the league is duly constituted in accordance with the provisions of the Namibia Sports Act, registered with the Namibia Sports Commission,” Traut informed Young African.
“While we accept that the NPL remains an expelled member of the NFA, and since, by your own admission, the judgement does not state that payment is to be made to the NFA, it would then be correct that to comply with the judgement in full, that payment be made to the NPL, irrespective of its current,” he said.
The NPL is now a rival national football body with plans to kick off a professional league that has no ties to the NFA, which recently overturned bans for NPL executives who were simultaneously excommunicated along with the league for the same reasons.
The decision by the normalisation committee to overturn the NPL executives’ expulsions without the consent of NFA members has reignited tensions in the already fractured football fraternity.
Fifa has repeatedly instructed the NFA to recognise one top tier league only, and not a breakaway structure. The NFA has to administer all organised football in Namibia, Fifa directed.
Young African argues that the NFA is “conveying instructions that you were not properly supported by the NFA statutes and the NFA rules and regulations”.
Furthermore, the NPL does not exist, and any objection to its membership renewal should be registered by the NPFL, the club contests.
When denouncing its NPL affiliation in favour of the NFA-backed NPFL, Young African pledged to uphold the NFA statutes which prohibit maintaining any relations with entities that are not recognised or members that have been suspended or expelled by the NFA.
The NFA as a whole is bound by the same regulations, Young African said.
“The NPFL is the only body mandated to directly instruct our club to comply with any decision if any,” Young African wrote to Traut in their second letter of objection.
FOOTBALL LOGIC
The previous NFA regime held the same view of the matter as Young African, allowing the club to compete in the NPFL Transitional League and MTC NFA Cup Aweh.
Young African finished third in the cup competition, while the transitional league ran out of funds to complete its programme.
“Your argument that the NPL is not a defunct entity circumvents footballing logic. We take note that the NPL is registered with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), but what does it have to do with the NFA?,” Young African protested.
“Firstly, the NPL registration with the NSC was not recognised by Fifa. Secondly, our club has resigned from the Namibia Premier League on 12 October 2020, and joined the NPFL after invitations by the same to do so,” Young African continued.
“The new NPL section 21 (not for gain), which is registered with BIPA and the Namibia Sports Commission, was only registered after the expulsion of the former by the NFA.
“We are not a member of the NPL, and neither is the NPL a member of the NFA, and our continued existence as a member of the NPFL cannot be subject to fulfilment of conditions pertaining to a non-member of the NFA.”
The NFA is running a personal witch-hunt against Young African on behalf of the NPL, the club charged.
In February this year, the NPL invited Young African to form part of its new structures.
“The NPL did not make the payment of the fine condition to us joining its league, meaning in hindsight that at least in its invitation to our club, it has abandoned their claim to the payment of this fine,” Young African said.
“Legally and technically [the NFA] cannot successfully pursue this matter against our club as the NFA is a third party in this matter.
“Young African is already a member of the NPFL, and the club can only lose its membership through relegation or expulsion from the league.”
ROOT CAUSE
Young African registered their grievances with the NFA appeals committee after being demoted from the NPL to the first division on 21 January 2019.
This is was after the NPL disciplinary committee found the club guilty of fraudulently registering and then fielding a Zimbabwean national using a forged passport in 28 of their 30 league matches during the 2017/18 season.
The club was also slapped with a N$50 000 sanction, on top of being docked all points accrued from matches in which Tapiwa Simon Musekiwa featured as Albert Mujikijera.
After purportedly serving a seven-match ban, Musekiwa went on to play for African Stars in their title-winning 2018/19 campaign.
The NFA appeals committee ruled that the NPL disciplinary committee “imposed a different sentence from that agreed to between the parties” without “clear reason nor justification”.
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