NFC given ultimatum

THE Namibia Premier League Board of Governors has given the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) until Tuesday to make up their minds whether they want to continue sponsoring football or not.

The decision was taken by the BoG members earlier this week and yesterday, The Namibian Sport learnt that the NFC has until 12h00 on Tuesday to come up with an answer on what their position is regarding football sponsorship in especially the domestic league. Protracted talks between the NFC and the Namibia Football Association have stalled the start of the season and the NPL wants to know what the way forward should be.It has been almost three months now that the NFA and NFC have been involved in negotiations as they seek to find common ground on how much money should be pumped into the domestic game for this season.The NFC consists of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), First National Bank of Namibia (FNB) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL).The NFC is chaired by Albertus Aochamub, who is also the spokeman of MTC.The three signed a five-year deal worth N$40 million that started three years ago, but it has not been smooth sailing for all the parties.Escalating costs of administration, hosting cup competitions and the general development of the game have promoted the NFA to seek more funding than the N$8 million given each year under the deal.But the NFC has stuck to its guns of not giving more than provided for in the contract.MTC WANTS OUT The Namibian Sport understands that MTC proposed to the NFA to instead concentrate on the NPL by sponsoring them with N$4 million each year for the two remaining seasons on the contract, but the NFA has refused to accept that offer.Making matters more complicated is the reluctance of the two other co-sponsors, FNB and NBL, to agree to MTC pulling out, saying that they will lose out on the mileage that they get from matches in the premiership.MTC carries the bulk of the sponsorship and has been dishing out N$4 million for the past three seasons, compared to the other two who contribute N$2 million each, meaning MTC has a 50 per cent stake in the deal.Also, the NFC is generally unhappy about the poor financial control measures in place at Soccer House as they at times fail to account for allocated funds.This year for example, the NFA failed to pay the prize money of both the NPL and teams in the lower leagues in full, a situation that negatively reflected on the image of the NFC.With that in mind, the NFC feels that they need to have a person from their side who can manage and administer the football sponsorship amount, a situation which is viewed as disrespectful by football bosses as they feel that they are competent enough to do the job.NFA AFRAID TO LOSE OUT Also, the NFA fears losing out on the sponsorship deal as a large chunk of their income is derived from gate takings through cup competitions such as the MTC Cup, the biggest in the country with a prize of N$350 000 for the winner.Other competitions include the Hansa Pilsener Cup for the first and second divisions and the season-opening FNB Cup, which have a combined value of close to N$1 million for the winning teams.Gate takings, which go straight to the NFA coffers, in these three cup competitions amount to at least N$3 million.The association also greatly benefits from administration fees, which are specially allocated by the sponsors for hosting the competitions.Administration fees for a competition such as the MTC Cup amounts to close to N$300 000, almost the prize of the winning team, and with all three cup competitions put together, the figure can go up to N$500 000.Coupled with that are the travel allowances that these officials get when attending these events when they are hosted out of Windhoek.But the biggest drawback for the NFA is that they cannot appoint a financial manager because they are technically a non-profit organisation and the biggest chunk of their income is consumed by the salaries of the small staff they have.The NFA is not responsible for the salary of technical director Klaus Stark, and only pays the coaches of the national teams allowances, while most of these funds are derived from the N$4 million made available by Government and the annual funds of over N$2 million they get from Fifa.Protracted talks between the NFC and the Namibia Football Association have stalled the start of the season and the NPL wants to know what the way forward should be.It has been almost three months now that the NFA and NFC have been involved in negotiations as they seek to find common ground on how much money should be pumped into the domestic game for this season.The NFC consists of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), First National Bank of Namibia (FNB) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL).The NFC is chaired by Albertus Aochamub, who is also the spokeman of MTC.The three signed a five-year deal worth N$40 million that started three years ago, but it has not been smooth sailing for all the parties.Escalating costs of administration, hosting cup competitions and the general development of the game have promoted the NFA to seek more funding than the N$8 million given each year under the deal.But the NFC has stuck to its guns of not giving more than provided for in the contract.MTC WANTS OUT The Namibian Sport understands that MTC proposed to the NFA to instead concentrate on the NPL by sponsoring them with N$4 million each year for the two remaining seasons on the contract, but the NFA has refused to accept that offer.Making matters more complicated is the reluctance of the two other co-sponsors, FNB and NBL, to agree to MTC pulling out, saying that they will lose out on the mileage that they get from matches in the premiership.MTC carries the bulk of the sponsorship and has been dishing out N$4 million for the past three seasons, compared to the other two who contribute N$2 million each, meaning MTC has a 50 per cent stake in the deal.Also, the NFC is generally unhappy about the poor financial control measures in place at Soccer House as they at times fail to account for allocated funds.This year for example, the NFA failed to pay the prize money of both the NPL and teams in the lower leagues in full, a situation that negatively reflected on the image of the NFC.With that in mind, the NFC feels that they need to have a person from their side who can manage and administer the football sponsorship amount, a situation which is viewed as disrespectful by football bosses as they feel that they are competent enough to do the job. NFA AFRAID TO LOSE OUT Also, the NFA fears losing out on the sponsorship deal as a large chunk of their income is derived from gate takings through cup competitions such as the MTC Cup, the biggest in the country with a prize of N$350 000 for the winner.Other competitions include the Hansa Pilsener Cup for the first and second divisions and the season-opening FNB Cup, which have a combined value of close to N$1 million for the winning teams.Gate takings, which go straight to the NFA coffers, in these three cup competitions amount to at least N$3 million.The association also greatly benefits from administration fees, which are specially allocated by the sponsors for hosting the competitions.Administration fees for a competition such as the MTC Cup amounts to close to N$300 000, almost the prize of the winning team, and with all three cup competitions put together, the figure can go up to N$500 000.Coupled with that are the travel allowances that these officials get when attending these events when they are hosted out of Windhoek.But the biggest drawback for the NFA is that they cannot appoint a financial manager because they are technically a non-profit organisation and the biggest chunk of their income is consumed by the salaries of the small staff they have.The NFA is not responsible for the salary of technical director Klaus Stark, and only pays the coaches of the national teams allowances, while most of these funds are derived from the N$4 million made available by Government and the annual funds of over N$2 million they get from Fifa.