The various leagues, from the third division to the elite premier league, were expected to officially kick off on September 6, but the start of the season has been postponed until the end of this month.

The new date is now September 27.

Secretary General of the NFA Alpheus Gaweseb told The Namibian yesterday that "there will be no soccer until all the NFA affiliated members get their acts together".

He said less than half of the 16 divisions and leagues affiliated to the NFA had forwarded their fixtures and other important information to the association on time.

He did not want to name the culprits, but said those who have submitted the information timeously "are unfortunately also affected by the decision".

NFA affiliates were supposed to hand in their documentation by August 22, but an extension, according to Gaweseb, was granted until August 27.

"They did not heed the call and this is now causing us all this trouble.

The members are constantly reminded by the association of their responsibilities, but they simply do not comprehend the importance of it," he said.

Gaweseb said the fixtures and the contact details of the members are important for the Namibia Football Consortium.

The consortium consists of Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) and Swabou, which are currently the main sponsors of football in the country.

Namibia Premier League (NPL) Chief Executive Officer Mario Carreira hit back at the NFA, saying that they should first take a closer look at themselves before "tumbling everything".

Carreira said that the non-submission of fixture lists and contact information was not a good enough reason to delay the start of the season.

"The NFA should stop using scapegoats for their own mistakes," he said.

Carreira claimed the NFA had failed to launch the start of the 2003/04 league season and was now punishing members for submitting their information late because of this.

He confirmed that NPL had honoured its obligations and submitted information on time.

Civics' Administrative Secretary Tim Isaacs said the three-week delay was a blow as his team, which hardly took a break during the off-season, had prepared to start the league on a high note this weekend.

Civics undertook a pre-season tour to Germany and their fitness levels proved an important factor when they won the recent Swabou Charity Cup.

Black Africa's Team Manager Anton van Wyk said he was disappointed by the decision.

"How are the players going to be motivated, because we have been making all the preparations for the league kick-off?" he said.

The postponement of the league does not only affect the clubs, but the availability of the stadiums, which have been booked in advance, will be disrupted.

At this stage, the NPL clubs primarily use the Ramblers, Khomasdal and Independence stadiums for their matches, but these are also used by other sport codes and there could now be clashes with other events.

Sport News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Tjongarero stays
•  City shoot down Arrows
•  Sweden win World Cup
•  Hayatou to be re-elected
•  Hayatou to be re-elected
•  Bolton on rise after Sunderland rout
•  Ferguson still on
•  Gebrselassie Aussie race win
•  Wales beat Wallabies, NZ dominant
•  Internationals win Lexus Cup