From the Sidelines

HOW do football clubs expect to start the season if they don’t pay their affiliation fees and, even more worrying, when their players are not registered? This is surely a Namibian classic, as it is found nowhere else in the world.

This situation has been going on for years and there is no excuse why it cannot be pinned down by football authorities. The Namibia Premier League bosses have so much power to impose fines or simply suspend teams that do not honour their financial obligations, but this never happens.The teams have so much time to pay their fees before the season starts, but their administrators do not seem to bother co-operating to make matters easier.Mind you, the affiliation and registration fees of players for the previous season have not even been fully paid yet.What does that tell you? Clubs are totally disregarding the rules that are laid down for this purpose – an indication that they do not care at all.This careless attitude of the clubs clearly puts in perspective the current sorry state of Namibian football.Why should clubs be forced to honour their payments if they agreed to do so before the start of each season? And why wait until the last minute? Funny enough, some of the clubs that have not even paid their fees have been bombarding the NPL office with questions about how much money they will get as start-up capital for the new season.The start-up capital for teams caters mostly for their travel and accommodation expenses, and is largely provided for by sponsors of the football association.It is unacceptable and the NPL should come up with strict measures aimed at penalising the culprits.It is also disturbing to see the same teams failing to do this every year.Why not give them fines if they fail to pay time and again ? At this stage, it appears that the NPL is ruled by the clubs instead of the other way around.Club administrators should learn to respect the rules as these are made to ensure the smooth start of the season.The cliché of “we have not been informed” should be forgotten as they (clubs) also don’t want excuses when they need their start-up capital.The issue of late registration should also be scrapped as teams have enough time to register before the league starts.Teams are only required to pay just over N$3 000 for everything, but this is still a big issue for some well established clubs, which are getting sufficient money from their sponsors each year.If football does not prosper on the premier league level, no formidable national team will be found.Petty issues such as the payment of compulsory fees should be basic and there should not be any debates about it.It should be done, no negotiations on extensions whatsoever.Clubs should respect deadlines.As NPL chairman Anton van Wyk said, the non-payment creates a situation of an unhealthy debt pile.This should come to an end and we all trust that Van Wyk and his team at the NPL office will look at ways how to avoid this situation at all costs in the future.The Namibia Premier League bosses have so much power to impose fines or simply suspend teams that do not honour their financial obligations, but this never happens.The teams have so much time to pay their fees before the season starts, but their administrators do not seem to bother co-operating to make matters easier.Mind you, the affiliation and registration fees of players for the previous season have not even been fully paid yet.What does that tell you? Clubs are totally disregarding the rules that are laid down for this purpose – an indication that they do not care at all.This careless attitude of the clubs clearly puts in perspective the current sorry state of Namibian football.Why should clubs be forced to honour their payments if they agreed to do so before the start of each season? And why wait until the last minute? Funny enough, some of the clubs that have not even paid their fees have been bombarding the NPL office with questions about how much money they will get as start-up capital for the new season.The start-up capital for teams caters mostly for their travel and accommodation expenses, and is largely provided for by sponsors of the football association.It is unacceptable and the NPL should come up with strict measures aimed at penalising the culprits.It is also disturbing to see the same teams failing to do this every year.Why not give them fines if they fail to pay time and again ? At this stage, it appears that the NPL is ruled by the clubs instead of the other way around.Club administrators should learn to respect the rules as these are made to ensure the smooth start of the season.The cliché of “we have not been informed” should be forgotten as they (clubs) also don’t want excuses when they need their start-up capital.The issue of late registration should also be scrapped as teams have enough time to register before the league starts.Teams are only required to pay just over N$3 000 for everything, but this is still a big issue for some well established clubs, which are getting sufficient money from their sponsors each year.If football does not prosper on the premier league level, no formidable national team will be found.Petty issues such as the payment of compulsory fees should be basic and there should not be any debates about it.It should be done, no negotiations on extensions whatsoever.Clubs should respect deadlines.As NPL chairman Anton van Wyk said, the non-payment creates a situation of an unhealthy debt pile.This should come to an end and we all trust that Van Wyk and his team at the NPL office will look at ways how to avoid this situation at all costs in the future.