NRU faces expulsion

THE Namibian national rugby team faces possible expulsion from its World Cup qualifying matches after it emerged that some of the players are not registered with the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU).

Namibia has so far played two World Cup qualifying matches. At least six players who play for the local Wanderers Rugby Club and who are part of the national team, are said not to be registered with the union.The issue came to light when tournament officials of the Windhoek Lager Rugby Club Championships excluded the club from the event because they could not prove that their players are registered with the union.The rules of the local tournament stated that all players must be registered with the NRU through their clubs.But Wanderers, who was one of the eight teams that were battling it out in the quarter-finals of the tournament, did apparently not have proof of registration.Wanderers were to meet Western Suburbs Rugby Club in the quarter-final match on the day, but the match was because of the registration hiccups.The final of the club championships on Saturday was eventually won by United Rugby Club, after beating former champions Western Suburbs 6-3 at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium.On international level, Namibia has so far played against Kenya, whom they convincingly beat 84-12 on May 27 in Windhoek, but fell 24-7 to Tunisia earlier this month.The chairman of Wanderers, Gert Lambert, yesterday maintained that his players were registered with the union, but said Suburbs officials, who organised the club championships, did not accept their explanations.”How can some of our players play for the national team if they are not registered with the union,” he asked.He said the team did produce proof of registration to the tournament officials, but their case was not looked at, with the chairman of the event, Keith Allies, saying that they were not eligible anymore.Ironically, most of the Wanderers players played in the qualifying matches of the tournament, which started about two months ago.Lambert insisted that some of the other clubs at the tournament also had unregistered players and he could not understand why Wanderers were singled out.”I know of teams that have players who are not registered with the NRU, but who played the entire tournament.In my view, this is an unfair dismissal,” he said.Lambert said his club was due to have a meeting late yesterday to discuss the matter.”We are not going to leave it here.We are going to approach the NRU and prove that our players are registered.We don’t really care about the consequences our actions may have on the tournament in general, but we believe that we were treated very unfairly and we stood a good chance to win the event,” he said.United took home a cool N$40 000, gold medals and a floating trophy, while Suburbs pocketed N$20 000 and silver medals.Allies could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the spokesperson of the tournament, James Camm, was quoted by Nampa as saying that Wanderers wanted to field nine unregistered players.”We must follow the rules of the NRU and ensure that only players registered with the Union can take part in the competition,” he said.Namibia Breweries Limited’s manager for sport, Kavee Rijatua, said the issue was in the hands of the organisers of the tournament and that NBL had nothing to do with it, as they were merely the sponsors.Wanderers and United provide the bulk of the players in the national team and if proven that they are not registered with the union, Namibia’s chances of further participation in the International Rugby Board’s 2007 World Cup will be affected.The World Cup will be held in France next year and the Namibian team stands a good chance to go through, provided they beat both Kenya and Tunisia in their next matches billed for September.At the local tournament, the University of Namibia (Unam) beat Harlequins by 11-6 to take home N$15 000 in the Plate final, while Harlequins won N$10 000.Reho Falcon were the better side in the Bowls final when they powered to victory with a 14-0 margin to take N$14 000.Grootfontein received N$4 000.Keetmanshoop narrowly beat Otjiwarongo 10-8 to take the Shield final and a cheque of N$3 000, while Otjiwarongo settled for N$1 000.At least six players who play for the local Wanderers Rugby Club and who are part of the national team, are said not to be registered with the union.The issue came to light when tournament officials of the Windhoek Lager Rugby Club Championships excluded the club from the event because they could not prove that their players are registered with the union.The rules of the local tournament stated that all players must be registered with the NRU through their clubs.But Wanderers, who was one of the eight teams that were battling it out in the quarter-finals of the tournament, did apparently not have proof of registration.Wanderers were to meet Western Suburbs Rugby Club in the quarter-final match on the day, but the match was because of the registration hiccups.The final of the club championships on Saturday was eventually won by United Rugby Club, after beating former champions Western Suburbs 6-3 at the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium.On international level, Namibia has so far played against Kenya, whom they convincingly beat 84-12 on May 27 in Windhoek, but fell 24-7 to Tunisia earlier this month.The chairman of Wanderers, Gert Lambert, yesterday maintained that his players were registered with the union, but said Suburbs officials, who organised the club championships, did not accept their explanations.”How can some of our players play for the national team if they are not registered with the union,” he asked.He said the team did produce proof of registration to the tournament officials, but their case was not looked at, with the chairman of the event, Keith Allies, saying that they were not eligible anymore.Ironically, most of the Wanderers players played in the qualifying matches of the tournament, which started about two months ago.Lambert insisted that some of the other clubs at the tournament also had unregistered players and he could not understand why Wanderers were singled out.”I know of teams that have players who are not registered with the NRU, but who played the entire tournament.In my view, this is an unfair dismissal,” he said.Lambert said his club was due to have a meeting late yesterday to discuss the matter.”We are not going to leave it here.We are going to approach the NRU and prove that our players are registered.We don’t really care about the consequences our actions may have on the tournament in general, but we believe that we were treated very unfairly and we stood a good chance to win the event,” he said.United took home a cool N$40 000, gold medals and a floating trophy, while Suburbs pocketed N$20 000 and silver medals.Allies could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the spokesperson of the tournament, James Camm, was quoted by Nampa as saying that Wanderers wanted to field nine unregistered players.”We must follow the rules of the NRU and ensure that only players registered with the Union can take part in the competition,” he said.Namibia Breweries Limited’s manager for sport, Kavee Rijatua, said the issue was in the hands of the organisers of the tournament and that NBL had nothing to do with it, as they were merely the sponsors.Wanderers and United provide the bulk of the players in the national team and if proven that they are not registered with the union, Namibia’s chances of further participation in the International Rugby Board’s 2007 World Cup will be affected.The World Cup will be held in France next year and the Namibian team stands a good chance to go through, provided they beat both Kenya and Tunisia in their next matches billed for September.At the local tournament, the University of Namibia (Unam) beat Harlequins by 11-6 to take home N$15 000 in the Plate final, while Harlequins won N$10 000.Reho Falcon were the better side in the Bowls final when they powered to victory with a 14-0 margin to take N$14 000.Grootfontein received N$4 000.Keetmanshoop narrowly beat Otjiwarongo 10-8 to take the Shield fi
nal and a cheque of N$3 000, while Otjiwarongo settled for N$1 000.