From the Sidelines: Shame Black Africa

WHAT a waste of time, effort and money for all those who turned up to watch the match between Black Africa and African Stars that was supposed to take place at the SKW Stadium on Wednesday evening.

I don’t understand why a match should be called off because of an allegation that the assigned referee for the match, in this case Matthew Katjimune, was apparently drunk. It was really ridiculous of the Black Africa officials to firstly come up with the allegations that such a highly regarded referee was too drunk to handle the match.It is not the first time that referees are accused of pitching for matches under the influence of alcohol, but it is just a mere excuse that teams use to avoid their matches to be handled by certain referees.Black Africa are a big team and their players are worthy enough to stand against African Stars on the field.Why chicken out? Katjimune, who is on the brink of becoming Namibia’s first referee to officiate at the African Nations Cup in Ghana next year, is known for his no-nonsense handling of the game.It is by no luck that he was identified as one of the best in the region by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).Through these unfounded allegations, Katjimune’s reputation as a top referee has now come under question, and it can have devastating consequences for his professional career.At that particular scheduled match on Wednesday, the chief of referees, Boy Boy Ndjadila, confirmed that his referee was definitely not drunk and was fit to handle the match.Why did the Black Africa officials refuse to accept the assessment of the man who is in charge of the referees? Obviously referees are checked physically before taking charge of matches and I believe since Ndjadila is the head of these men, he knew that Katjimune was fit enough and decided to sent him out there to take charge.Also, why would Ndjadila protect his referee if he knows that the consequences would be severe? A referee who is under the influence of alcohol can make judgement errors and might not keep up with the pace of the game, making him vulnerable to being punished by his authorities in the process.But in this case, if the bosses give a green light for the man to handle the match, who are the teams to complain? Of course teams have the rights to protest, but teams should realise that such thoughtless action can also bring them into hot water, while they deny their thousands of supporters the right to see their favourite team in action after paying for that privilege.No one was refunded the cost of their tickets and it was African Stars’ home game, which means no cent of the gate-takings went to BA even though they claimed that they were the victims.The person who decided that Katjimune should not take charge of the game, has caused a lot of damage that can no longer be repaired.Players will never be as prepared as they were on the day.Their spirit and commitment will not be the same, which means they practised for the match in vain.The spectators have lost faith in some of their leaders who failed to resolve issues realistically despite sticking around until the disappointing news that there was to be no game.To be blunt, it was massive short-sightedness from the BA officials not to allow another referee to take charge of the match, or simply withdrawing allegations that could not be proven.BA is a well-respected team and what its officials did was not in the interest of their huge support base, nor is it in the interest of football.The Namibia Premier League (NPL) should pronounce itself on the issue and it would be good to see serious action taken against whoever is found guilty.It was really ridiculous of the Black Africa officials to firstly come up with the allegations that such a highly regarded referee was too drunk to handle the match.It is not the first time that referees are accused of pitching for matches under the influence of alcohol, but it is just a mere excuse that teams use to avoid their matches to be handled by certain referees.Black Africa are a big team and their players are worthy enough to stand against African Stars on the field.Why chicken out? Katjimune, who is on the brink of becoming Namibia’s first referee to officiate at the African Nations Cup in Ghana next year, is known for his no-nonsense handling of the game.It is by no luck that he was identified as one of the best in the region by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).Through these unfounded allegations, Katjimune’s reputation as a top referee has now come under question, and it can have devastating consequences for his professional career.At that particular scheduled match on Wednesday, the chief of referees, Boy Boy Ndjadila, confirmed that his referee was definitely not drunk and was fit to handle the match.Why did the Black Africa officials refuse to accept the assessment of the man who is in charge of the referees? Obviously referees are checked physically before taking charge of matches and I believe since Ndjadila is the head of these men, he knew that Katjimune was fit enough and decided to sent him out there to take charge.Also, why would Ndjadila protect his referee if he knows that the consequences would be severe? A referee who is under the influence of alcohol can make judgement errors and might not keep up with the pace of the game, making him vulnerable to being punished by his authorities in the process.But in this case, if the bosses give a green light for the man to handle the match, who are the teams to complain? Of course teams have the rights to protest, but teams should realise that such thoughtless action can also bring them into hot water, while they deny their thousands of supporters the right to see their favourite team in action after paying for that privilege.No one was refunded the cost of their tickets and it was African Stars’ home game, which means no cent of the gate-takings went to BA even though they claimed that they were the victims.The person who decided that Katjimune should not take charge of the game, has caused a lot of damage that can no longer be repaired.Players will never be as prepared as they were on the day.Their spirit and commitment will not be the same, which means they practised for the match in vain.The spectators have lost faith in some of their leaders who failed to resolve issues realistically despite sticking around until the disappointing news that there was to be no game.To be blunt, it was massive short-sightedness from the BA officials not to allow another referee to take charge of the match, or simply withdrawing allegations that could not be proven.BA is a well-respected team and what its officials did was not in the interest of their huge support base, nor is it in the interest of football.The Namibia Premier League (NPL) should pronounce itself on the issue and it would be good to see serious action taken against whoever is found guilty.