Haikali wants to clear name

MATHEW Haikali says he will approach the Namibia Premier League (NPL) bosses today in a bid to try to convince them to issue a joint press statements regarding the position of chief executive officer that he applied for at the football body.

Haikali told The Namibian Sport at the weekend that he was hard done by by the league authorities, who he says did not operate in confidentiality after they offered him the CEO job a few weeks ago.He said the NPL failed to negotiate with him on the offer and instead made comments to the media that he declined their offer due to ‘personal reasons’.’I did not decline the job. Instead I wanted us to sit down and discuss or negotiate the offer they made to me, but I only learnt in the newspapers that I declined due to personal reasons which I am not even aware of,’ he said.Haikali and seven other candidates were shortlisted for the NPL job but he was identified as the right man after interviews were concluded. He was subsequently given an offer to consider within 72 hours.’The offer they made to me was not sort of negotiable. I was either supposed to accept or decline it, but I felt that I needed an audience with them to discuss it for some conclusion as I did not agree with some parts in it,’ he said. Sources earlier indicated that Haikali was offered far less money than what he expected and his dissatisfaction was mostly around that.He said the money was part of it, but there were several aspects of the offer that he wanted to take up with the league and was not given an opportunity to address.’They did not give me a chance to state my case and at the same time I feel it was a bit unfair that they concluded that I was no longer interested and leaked information to the media,’ he said.He said he will seek an audience with the league authorities today to issue a joint statement on the whole debacle, but most importantly: ‘I want to clear my name for being the one who did not come to the party.’Last week, the NPL said they will re-advertise the position next January, but sources indicated to The Namibian Sport that the league bosses are now looking beyond the borders for the body’s first ever CEO. It is believed that a former South African league administrator is targeted for the job, with a Namibian being sought as understudy.