Clubs cry foul as funds dry up

FUNDS for Namibia Premier League (NPL) clubs have dried up and they will now have to do without their monthly grant of N$30 000 till the end of the season.

According to a club spokesman, who preferred to stay anonymous, Premier League clubs recently received a letter from the CEO of the NPL, Mathew Haikali, informing them that they would not receive their monthly grant for April. ‘Due to budgetary constraints that the league has encountered, we won’t be able to release our money for April,’ the letter stated.The last payment clubs received came at the beginning of March when they received N$15 000 for February. The spokesman said that at a Board of Governors meeting at the end of February, Haikali had raised the issue of insufficient funds and proposed that the NPL offer them N$15 000 each till the end of the season. This proposal was however dismissed by the Board of Governors. ‘What are the smaller teams going to do now, who do not have their own sponsors. How will they make do till the end of the season,’ the club spokesman asked, adding that Premier League clubs were very unhappy about the state of affairs.’From what I’ve heard, the clubs are very unhappy and there is even talk that they might boycott the rest of their league matches,’ he added.Haikali however said that the monthly grants to clubs were based on the NPL’s annual budget that was approved by the Board of Governors at the beginning of the season. ‘The Board of Governors, that includes representatives of all the Premier League clubs, approved the budget at the beginning of the season. According to the budget, Premier League clubs would just receive monthly grants for nine months, while the league is on,’ he said.Haikali admitted that they still owed N$15 000 for February and said this would be paid soon. There will however be no more grants till the end of the league which will come to a close in May. ‘The clubs all knew about this and we are meeting our financial obligations. The teams will now have to make their own arrangements till the end of the season,’ he said. ‘At the Board of Governors meeting I tried to help the clubs by offering to allocate N$15 000 per month so that it would last longer, but the clubs did not accept this,’ he said. The club spokesman disagreed with Haikali’s statement, saying that according to their contract, they are supposed to receive grants for ten and not nine months. Haikali, on the other hand, said that since there were no league matches during March, they would not receive grants for March. Haikali said that the Premier League would come to an end in May and that the NPL annual awards function would be held early in June.’We have budgeted for this and the clubs will receive their prize money while we hope to hold the awards function on June 4,’ he said.Haikali said that the Nationwide First Division leagues would also receive prize money, although he admitted that the Northern Stream Nationwide first division was in a race against time.’Clubs in the Northern Stream First Division have to play 22 matches each, but they have only played three to date, so we are a bit concerned about that league,’ he said. – namibiasport.com.na

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