Golden Bees case still pending

THE Namibia Football Association Disciplinary Committee will only pronounce itself on Saturday on the case of Golden Bees Football Club, which claims to have won the Northern Stream First Division.

The co-ordinator of the Disciplinary Committee, Barry Rukoro, told The Namibian Sport yesterday that a final date for the resolution of the case would be set this week, but it was likely to be September 23. The Outjo-based club is accused of falsifying a result in their league match against Robber Chanties at the end of last season.Golden Bees claim that they won the league after beating Robber Chanties 2-1 at Khorixas, but the second-placed team at the time, Mighty Gunners, lodged a complaint that the match was in fact won by Robber Chanties by the same margin.Rukoro said the DC asked the Northern Stream First Division to be the respondents as they were the ones to whom the complaint was made.The league authorities wrote back to the DC, confirming that Golden Bees had submitted false results and that their claim to the league title was not legitimate.The league authorities said they had evidence that Golden Bees had falsified the results of the match and that Mighty Gunners were the rightful team to be promoted.Rukoro said Golden Bees rejected the decision taken by the league authorities and are now expected to face the DC to state their case.”We need to find a date for both the league authorities and Golden Bees to come so that we can wrap up the case,” he said.The other irony is that the NFA at its awards ceremony in August rewarded Golden Bees with a prize of N$35 000 for winning the league.Mighty Gunners were placed second and they received prize money of N$18 000.Despite not having been promoted because of the unresolved case, Golden Bees attended the recent elections of the Namibia Premier League (NPL), claiming that they were now part of the elite league.The case has also contributed to the delay in the start of the domestic premiership.The NPL is supposed to have 12 teams in total, and with the relegation of both Chief Santos and Touch & Go, two teams were supposed to be promoted from the Northern Stream and Southern Stream First Divisions.At this stage, Friends Football Club from Rehoboth is the only team that has been legally promoted after winning the Southern Stream league.Both Santos and Touch & Go are expected to serve in the lower division next season, but both teams also attended and voted at the NPL elections.Santos ended the league with 18 points from their total of 22 matches, while Touch & Go only garnered 14 points in a similar number of matches.The two teams, being relegated, are not supposed to take part in any business of the NPL, but Santos argued that they had lodged an appeal with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and still regarded themselves as a premiership team.There is no clarity on what their appeal is, and NSC chief administrator Rusten Mogane could not be reached for comment.The date for the kick-off of the football season is still undetermined, but sources said it would sometime in mid-October.The Outjo-based club is accused of falsifying a result in their league match against Robber Chanties at the end of last season.Golden Bees claim that they won the league after beating Robber Chanties 2-1 at Khorixas, but the second-placed team at the time, Mighty Gunners, lodged a complaint that the match was in fact won by Robber Chanties by the same margin.Rukoro said the DC asked the Northern Stream First Division to be the respondents as they were the ones to whom the complaint was made.The league authorities wrote back to the DC, confirming that Golden Bees had submitted false results and that their claim to the league title was not legitimate.The league authorities said they had evidence that Golden Bees had falsified the results of the match and that Mighty Gunners were the rightful team to be promoted.Rukoro said Golden Bees rejected the decision taken by the league authorities and are now expected to face the DC to state their case.”We need to find a date for both the league authorities and Golden Bees to come so that we can wrap up the case,” he said.The other irony is that the NFA at its awards ceremony in August rewarded Golden Bees with a prize of N$35 000 for winning the league.Mighty Gunners were placed second and they received prize money of N$18 000.Despite not having been promoted because of the unresolved case, Golden Bees attended the recent elections of the Namibia Premier League (NPL), claiming that they were now part of the elite league.The case has also contributed to the delay in the start of the domestic premiership.The NPL is supposed to have 12 teams in total, and with the relegation of both Chief Santos and Touch & Go, two teams were supposed to be promoted from the Northern Stream and Southern Stream First Divisions.At this stage, Friends Football Club from Rehoboth is the only team that has been legally promoted after winning the Southern Stream league.Both Santos and Touch & Go are expected to serve in the lower division next season, but both teams also attended and voted at the NPL elections.Santos ended the league with 18 points from their total of 22 matches, while Touch & Go only garnered 14 points in a similar number of matches.The two teams, being relegated, are not supposed to take part in any business of the NPL, but Santos argued that they had lodged an appeal with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and still regarded themselves as a premiership team.There is no clarity on what their appeal is, and NSC chief administrator Rusten Mogane could not be reached for comment.The date for the kick-off of the football season is still undetermined, but sources said it would sometime in mid-October.