Doëseb new NPL chairman

THE owner of Eleven Arrows Football Club has been appointed as the interim chairman of the Namibia Premier League following, the resignation of Hendrik Dawids on May 14.

The NPL media officer Meke Namindo made the announcement at a press conference at the NFA Soccer House on Wednesday, saying that Johnny Doëseb was elected by the NPL’s Board of Governors on Tuesday night. She added that Doëseb will serve in the position until the NPL’s extraordinary meeting on August 29 when the next chairman will be elected.
Doëseb said his main task would be to transform the league into a professional body and that some difficult decisions would have to be made.
‘One of our most important tasks will be to engage the NFA and to bring the NPL and the NFA closer together, because at the moment the relationship is not good.
We are trying our best to turn the NPL into a professional body, but that can only be achieved through hard work. We will also have to review the constitutions of the NPL and the NFA, to make sure that they don’t overlap or duplicate each other,’ he said.
Another important task according to Doëseb was to help turn the clubs into professional bodies.
‘The Premier League clubs must have offices and we will discuss this with our sponsor, MTC. Everyone is urging us now to be professional, but how can you run a club without an office? If clubs don’t have offices or telephone and fax lines soon we will enforce some penalties,’ he said.
Doëseb said that the NPL office also needed to be expanded as they wanted to appoint new personnel, including a CEO, a marketing manager and security personnel, among others. He confirmed that the NPL office would move away from its current headquarters at the NFA Soccer House in Katutura to its own premises in Windhoek West by the start of June.
‘My mandate is to put an operational plan in place to set the guidelines for where we want to see the NPL in five years’ time. The NPL office needs to expand and will need capable people, like a CEO, a marketing manager and security officers,’ he said.
Doëseb said he had already contacted the NFA president John Muinjo, who had given him ‘his blessing’.
‘I’ll give Mr Muinjo my complete support and only through positive dialogue and a smart partnership will we be able to move forward,’ he said.
Doëseb also provided details of the rest of the league’s fixtures, saying that the final match for the current season had been finalised.
There are still four rounds of matches to go, which will be completed over the next month.
The final round of matches will take place on Saturday, June 20, while the Cell One NFA Cup final will be held the following Saturday on June 27.
The current season will be concluded with the NFA Awards on Friday, July 10.
– www.namibiasport.com.na