At this stage, teams are in the dark on when the league will start, let alone the closing of the transfer period which started on August 1.

Yesterday, NPL communications officer Meke Namindo was vague when asked about the start and the transfer period for the premiership.

She said the transfer period opened on August 1, but she was not certain until when the players can register with the clubs before the start of the new season.

She also could not say with certainty when the premiership will kick off.

"I think the league will start in the first week of September.

But for the transfer period, it might possibly be open until around September," she said.

Namindo said the NPL executive would decide on the dates during a meeting on Thursday.

Traditionally, kick-off dates for the following season are announced at the end of the previous season, and clubs are informed about the transfer period.

According to some clubs, they have not been informed of the transfer period, but Namindo maintains that clubs are aware that they can start registering their players for the new season.

The Namibian Sport yesterday called several club officials to check if they were aware of the transfer and kick-off dates.

Some said they were aware that the transfer period was now open, while some complained that they did not know whether they should start with training or not, as there was no kick-off date given for the league.

"You see, it is difficult to start with training now.

This happens every season.

We are constantly waiting for the officials to tell us when the league starts.

Why don't they plan these things ahead so we can also have our training schedules in place to coincide with the league start," said an African Stars official.

Last season, the start of the league was delayed and only started in November.

Some believe it will be the case again this season.

Orlando Pirates owner Hendrik Dawids said although his team manager handled all the correspondence with the NPL about kick-off dates, he had not received anything in writing, nor was he sure about the transfer time for players.

An official for the newly promoted Hotspurs Football Club said he did not know what the NPL rules were in terms of disseminating information to clubs, but they had not received information on any league fixtures or the kick-off date.

Windhoek-based Hotspurs were promoted this season from the Southern Stream First Division and were joined by Northern Stream First Division winners Chief Santos.

The Namibian Sport also established that some first-division teams have not yet received their prize money for last season.

The same goes for the individual prize-winners at the annual NFA awards in Windhoek on July 29.

This year, the winning teams only received trophies, with promises that they would receive their cheques in the week after the ceremony.

The Namibian Sport has not been able to get comment from officials on this point.

One of the refereeing officials also called to complain about funds that don't reach them in time from the Namibia Referees' Committee.

The committee is headed by Boy Boy Ndjadila, who could not be reached for comment yesterday.

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