Individuals lie about football sponsorship

TWO individuals from the Caprivi region, Nickey Mutame and Chrizo Mavuna, earlier this year provided false information to The Namibian Sport, claiming that they sponsored a rural football tournament in the Caprivi Region held in December.

Mutame provided The Namibian Sport with a report on the winning teams of the tournament, as well as the prizes which were awarded to the teams, while he also claimed he and his friend, Chrizo Mavuna, had sponsored the tournament to the tune of N$3 000 each. However, the information provided to the newspaper by Mutame was declared as “lies” by the Linyanti Community Cup’s committee chairperson, Muchali Mutame, who claims that they initially organised the tournament held in Linyanti on December 24.Nickey Mutame mentioned that he and his friend each gave N$3 000 for the tournament, which featured several football and netball teams from villages in the Linyanti area, while they also thanked the organisers for hosting a successful tournament.Chairman Muchali Mutame, who is not related to Nickey Mutame, said Nickey Mutame provided false information to the newspaper, because he was not even at the tournament.”This man lied to you and we don’t even know him.We wanted to provide you with the information, only to see that it appeared in the paper wrongly,” he said.Muchali Mutame said the two individuals have caused great concern among the community and some of the sponsors who contributed to the event.Nickey Mutame and Mavuna also declared that the tournament will be an annual event and even invited teams to register for next year already.When contacted by The Namibian Sport as to why they provided wrong information to the newspaper, Nickey Mutame maintained that it was not false and that he indeed gave some money towards the tournament, but could not provide the proof thereof.He promised this reporter that he would come back with proof of his payment to the event, but never did.He also claimed that he was the spokesperson of the Linyanti Community Cup’s committee, but the committee does not have a spokesperson.The chairman handles all the queries.When confronted by Muchali Mutame this week, Nickey said he never sent information to the newspapers.Muchali Mutame says Nickey is denying that he faxed through information to the newspaper, despite being shown the letter which came from his office in Luederitz.Nickey Mutame on January 10 2007, faxed through a one-page letter from the Customs office in Luederitz, in which the information regarding the tournament, including his contact details.He also included his work telephone number (063-202259) and his post box address, which is 87, Luederitz.Muchali Mutame said the prizes for the winners and runners-up were stated correctly by the two individuals, which were N$1 500 for the winner (won by Black Tigers) and N$1000 (won by Barcelona) respectively, but the prize money for the third spot was wrong.The two individuals claimed that the third-placed team, Magic Score, pocketed N$800, but in fact it was only N$700.For netball, the individuals had runners-up Kisako pocketing N$700, instead of N$800, according to Muchali Mutame.Muchali Mutami said the two individuals were opportunistic and wanted to seek publicity through the press for activities they were never involved in.He said the Linyanti Community Cup is a community project in which the people of Linyanti aim to promote sport in the region, while at the same time raising funds to sustain the tournament.He said Simone Kennedy, the owner of Corner Shop at the town, contributed N$1 000 to the event, while a host of other individuals in the community, except Nickey Mutami and Mavuna, raised about N$8 000.In total, the tournament raised N$12 000 and at least N$6 000 was given out as prize money.There were also prizes for top goal scorer and players of the tournament in the football and netball categories.The rest of the money was spent on administration, but some will be used for next year’s tournament.However, the information provided to the newspaper by Mutame was declared as “lies” by the Linyanti Community Cup’s committee chairperson, Muchali Mutame, who claims that they initially organised the tournament held in Linyanti on December 24.Nickey Mutame mentioned that he and his friend each gave N$3 000 for the tournament, which featured several football and netball teams from villages in the Linyanti area, while they also thanked the organisers for hosting a successful tournament.Chairman Muchali Mutame, who is not related to Nickey Mutame, said Nickey Mutame provided false information to the newspaper, because he was not even at the tournament.”This man lied to you and we don’t even know him.We wanted to provide you with the information, only to see that it appeared in the paper wrongly,” he said.Muchali Mutame said the two individuals have caused great concern among the community and some of the sponsors who contributed to the event.Nickey Mutame and Mavuna also declared that the tournament will be an annual event and even invited teams to register for next year already.When contacted by The Namibian Sport as to why they provided wrong information to the newspaper, Nickey Mutame maintained that it was not false and that he indeed gave some money towards the tournament, but could not provide the proof thereof.He promised this reporter that he would come back with proof of his payment to the event, but never did.He also claimed that he was the spokesperson of the Linyanti Community Cup’s committee, but the committee does not have a spokesperson.The chairman handles all the queries.When confronted by Muchali Mutame this week, Nickey said he never sent information to the newspapers.Muchali Mutame says Nickey is denying that he faxed through information to the newspaper, despite being shown the letter which came from his office in Luederitz.Nickey Mutame on January 10 2007, faxed through a one-page letter from the Customs office in Luederitz, in which the information regarding the tournament, including his contact details.He also included his work telephone number (063-202259) and his post box address, which is 87, Luederitz.Muchali Mutame said the prizes for the winners and runners-up were stated correctly by the two individuals, which were N$1 500 for the winner (won by Black Tigers) and N$1000 (won by Barcelona) respectively, but the prize money for the third spot was wrong.The two individuals claimed that the third-placed team, Magic Score, pocketed N$800, but in fact it was only N$700.For netball, the individuals had runners-up Kisako pocketing N$700, instead of N$800, according to Muchali Mutame.Muchali Mutami said the two individuals were opportunistic and wanted to seek publicity through the press for activities they were never involved in.He said the Linyanti Community Cup is a community project in which the people of Linyanti aim to promote sport in the region, while at the same time raising funds to sustain the tournament.He said Simone Kennedy, the owner of Corner Shop at the town, contributed N$1 000 to the event, while a host of other individuals in the community, except Nickey Mutami and Mavuna, raised about N$8 000.In total, the tournament raised N$12 000 and at least N$6 000 was given out as prize money.There were also prizes for top goal scorer and players of the tournament in the football and netball categories.The rest of the money was spent on administration, but some will be used for next year’s tournament.