NFA exco under threat

A REBEL group of football officials calling themselves the interim committee yesterday issued a legal notice to the current Namibia Football Association (NFA) leadership that they intend to take charge of football affairs in the country.

The group, led by Hendrik Dawids, obtained a legal notice from the law firm PF Koep and Co, in which it states that the current leadership led by John Muinjo, who is the acting president of the association, is unlawful. The letter, which is addressed to Muinjo and copied to Fifa, the Namibia Sports Commission and NFA Secretary General Alpheus Gaweseb, says that the executive was already replaced at an extraordinary congress held on June 3 this year.”Our instructions are further that you still purport to act on behalf of the NFA despite being notified of your replacement.It is unlawful,” it states.The notice, which is signed by lawyer Richard Mueller, further states that the promotion and relegation playoffs scheduled for this weekend are in violation of the NFA rules and regulations and should be cancelled as a matter of extreme urgency.”Should the playoffs continue, the NFA faces potential damages and legal disputes,” it says.The interim committee called an extraordinary congress on June 3 to elect a new leadership, which they said was in accordance with the NFA constitution.The congress took place, but was not attended by Muinjo and his executive committee, who were asked to be present.At this extraordinary congress, Dawids was elected as the chairman of the interim committee, which complained about the way football is being run and the legality of the current executive committee.Issues of tribalism were also raised.The interim committee could not take up office, however, as they were sidelined by the current executive committee, and they have appealed to Fifa to intervene.The interim committee specifically called for an ordinary congress as soon as possible, but this has not materialised.Fifa development officer Ashford Mamelodi was dispatched to Namibia to investigate the debacle and reported back to the NFA last week, instructing the association to organise elections for all its regions, as well as for a new executive.Fifa set October 31 as the deadline for the elections.But yesterday, the interim committee defied that order from Fifa and wants to take over the leadership of the football body with immediate effect.The actions of the interim committee are in fact in direct conflict with the resolutions taken by Fifa regarding the holding of elections and are undermining the current leadership while at the same time also affecting Government and the sponsors of football.The main point of the interim committee is that the election of a new president did not take place within the required time after former president Petrus Damaseb stepped down.When contacted yesterday, Muinjo said his executive was aware of the letter from the interim committee’s lawyers and was consulting on the issue.”All I can say is that we are consulting and we will act accordingly when the time comes,” he said.One of the members of the interim committee that The Namibian Sport spoke to yesterday said they would go and see Gaweseb today and would ask him to cooperate with them.”We are not concerned about the administrative part of the association, but we have an issue with the executive committee, which is currently operating illegally,” the member said.At this stage, Dawids appears to be one of the candidates who will be running for the presidency, while Muinjo has also expressed willingness to run.The NFA has not set any dates for the elections.The letter, which is addressed to Muinjo and copied to Fifa, the Namibia Sports Commission and NFA Secretary General Alpheus Gaweseb, says that the executive was already replaced at an extraordinary congress held on June 3 this year.”Our instructions are further that you still purport to act on behalf of the NFA despite being notified of your replacement.It is unlawful,” it states.The notice, which is signed by lawyer Richard Mueller, further states that the promotion and relegation playoffs scheduled for this weekend are in violation of the NFA rules and regulations and should be cancelled as a matter of extreme urgency.”Should the playoffs continue, the NFA faces potential damages and legal disputes,” it says.The interim committee called an extraordinary congress on June 3 to elect a new leadership, which they said was in accordance with the NFA constitution.The congress took place, but was not attended by Muinjo and his executive committee, who were asked to be present.At this extraordinary congress, Dawids was elected as the chairman of the interim committee, which complained about the way football is being run and the legality of the current executive committee.Issues of tribalism were also raised.The interim committee could not take up office, however, as they were sidelined by the current executive committee, and they have appealed to Fifa to intervene.The interim committee specifically called for an ordinary congress as soon as possible, but this has not materialised.Fifa development officer Ashford Mamelodi was dispatched to Namibia to investigate the debacle and reported back to the NFA last week, instructing the association to organise elections for all its regions, as well as for a new executive.Fifa set October 31 as the deadline for the elections.But yesterday, the interim committee defied that order from Fifa and wants to take over the leadership of the football body with immediate effect.The actions of the interim committee are in fact in direct conflict with the resolutions taken by Fifa regarding the holding of elections and are undermining the current leadership while at the same time also affecting Government and the sponsors of football.The main point of the interim committee is that the election of a new president did not take place within the required time after former president Petrus Damaseb stepped down.When contacted yesterday, Muinjo said his executive was aware of the letter from the interim committee’s lawyers and was consulting on the issue.”All I can say is that we are consulting and we will act accordingly when the time comes,” he said.One of the members of the interim committee that The Namibian Sport spoke to yesterday said they would go and see Gaweseb today and would ask him to cooperate with them.”We are not concerned about the administrative part of the association, but we have an issue with the executive committee, which is currently operating illegally,” the member said.At this stage, Dawids appears to be one of the candidates who will be running for the presidency, while Muinjo has also expressed willingness to run.The NFA has not set any dates for the elections.