Premier League finally launched

AFTER a delay of more than a month, the Namibia Football Association (NFA) yesterday finally launched the 2004/05 football season which is now due to start on October 9.

The chairman of the Namibia Premier League, Anton van Wyk said that the local soccer calendar will be very congested due to the late start of the league, but gave the undertaking that the 2004/05 season will finish in time, at the end of May. “We haven’t made provision for any matches for the national team next year, so some changes could still occur during the second round of the league,” he added.The first round of the league will be played every weekend until its completion on November 27.The second round of the league will start on January 22 and is scheduled to finish on May 22.Three Cup competitions will take place during the Premier League’s two month break.The first two rounds of the MTC Christmas Cup take place on December 4 and 5, while the semifinals and final are scheduled for December 11 and 12.Amos Shiyuka of MTC confirmed that all 16 teams of the Premier League will participate in the MTC Cup.The FNB Charity Cup, which was initially supposed to take place two months ago, will now take place on the weekend of December 18 and 19.The venue still has to be determined, but the participating teams will be the defending league champions Hangana Seafood Blue Waters and the Tafel Lager NFA Cup champions, Black Africa.The first round of the Tafel Lager NFA Cup takes place on the weekend of January 15 and 16.After that the tournament will only be played at the end of each month, with the final scheduled for the weekend of May 28 and 29.This final will also bring the season to a close.Provision has also been made for the Confederation of African Football Champions League from January to March as well as The Namibian Newspaper Cup from April 8 to 11.The secretary general of the NFA, Alpheus Gaweseb announced that the Namibian Premier League (NPL) will be reduced from the current 16 to 12 teams at the end of the season.The teams that finish in the last four positions on the log will be automatically relegated to the Nationwide First Division.The 11th and 12th placed teams will be involved in promotion-relegation play-off matches with the four zonal Nationwide First Division winners.Gaweseb added that the Nationwide First Division will be divided into a north and a south zone from next season onwards and that all regional leagues will consist of only 12 teams.”We want to improve the quality of Namibian football by reducing the number of clubs, while it will also be financially more beneficial,” he said.On a question whether the NFA could assist Premier League clubs with income from gate takings, Gaweseb said they did not have much finances available for the general administration of the league.Van Wyk however added that the NPL was considering various proposals to assist the clubs.According to a press release the NFA will receive N$3 451 775 from the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) for the 2004/05 season.This is the third and final year of the NFC’s current contract with the NFA.In its first season in 2002/03 it sponsored the NFA to an amount of N$3 165 000, while its sponsorship in 2003/04 was N$3 371 910.Meanwhile, soccer fans can look forward to some exciting matches when the season starts on October 9 and 10.The pick of that weekend’s games are Chief Santos v Civics and Tigers at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium, while Black Africa and Ramblers travel to Walvis Bay to face Blue Waters and Eleven Arrows.”We haven’t made provision for any matches for the national team next year, so some changes could still occur during the second round of the league,” he added.The first round of the league will be played every weekend until its completion on November 27.The second round of the league will start on January 22 and is scheduled to finish on May 22.Three Cup competitions will take place during the Premier League’s two month break.The first two rounds of the MTC Christmas Cup take place on December 4 and 5, while the semifinals and final are scheduled for December 11 and 12.Amos Shiyuka of MTC confirmed that all 16 teams of the Premier League will participate in the MTC Cup.The FNB Charity Cup, which was initially supposed to take place two months ago, will now take place on the weekend of December 18 and 19.The venue still has to be determined, but the participating teams will be the defending league champions Hangana Seafood Blue Waters and the Tafel Lager NFA Cup champions, Black Africa.The first round of the Tafel Lager NFA Cup takes place on the weekend of January 15 and 16.After that the tournament will only be played at the end of each month, with the final scheduled for the weekend of May 28 and 29.This final will also bring the season to a close.Provision has also been made for the Confederation of African Football Champions League from January to March as well as The Namibian Newspaper Cup from April 8 to 11.The secretary general of the NFA, Alpheus Gaweseb announced that the Namibian Premier League (NPL) will be reduced from the current 16 to 12 teams at the end of the season.The teams that finish in the last four positions on the log will be automatically relegated to the Nationwide First Division.The 11th and 12th placed teams will be involved in promotion-relegation play-off matches with the four zonal Nationwide First Division winners.Gaweseb added that the Nationwide First Division will be divided into a north and a south zone from next season onwards and that all regional leagues will consist of only 12 teams.”We want to improve the quality of Namibian football by reducing the number of clubs, while it will also be financially more beneficial,” he said.On a question whether the NFA could assist Premier League clubs with income from gate takings, Gaweseb said they did not have much finances available for the general administration of the league.Van Wyk however added that the NPL was considering various proposals to assist the clubs.According to a press release the NFA will receive N$3 451 775 from the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) for the 2004/05 season.This is the third and final year of the NFC’s current contract with the NFA.In its first season in 2002/03 it sponsored the NFA to an amount of N$3 165 000, while its sponsorship in 2003/04 was N$3 371 910.Meanwhile, soccer fans can look forward to some exciting matches when the season starts on October 9 and 10.The pick of that weekend’s games are Chief Santos v Civics and Tigers at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium, while Black Africa and Ramblers travel to Walvis Bay to face Blue Waters and Eleven Arrows.