Premiership set for Nov 11

THE Namibia Premier League (NPL) will officially kick off on November 11, a top football official confirmed to The Namibian Sport yesterday.

Chief administrator of the NPL Tovey //Hoebeb, yesterday said that the kick-off of the 2006/2007 season will be on November 11. The league closes on December 17 for Christmas.It will resume in the second week of January and run until May.//Hoebeb said the fixtures for the season will only be ready by the first week of November.The opening of the domestic football season has been delayed for close to three months now, with internal fights among the football bosses being the major contributor.The season was supposed to kick off in August, but a squabble over the leadership of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) broke out after a concerned group formed an interim committee, as they attempted to take over the affairs of the mother body.The interim committee sidelined the current executive committee under acting president John Muinjo, by holding an extraordinary congress at which they appointed a committee headed by Hendrik Dawids.The committee pushed the NFA executive into a corner, claiming that they were not satisfied with the way in which football was run, with tribal issues also coming into the open.Intervention by the world football governing body Fifa prompted all parties to stop the fights and accept a roadmap that called for fresh elections in all the football regions.The elections were completed on Saturday with the election of Pieter van Wyk as the new head of the NPL, despite earlier hiccups that marred the process in especially the Kunene Region and within the NPL.The elections in all the other regions were completed democratically and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which was tasked with overseeing the process, has confirmed that their job is now completed.Agnes Tjongarero, who headed the IEC, will be expected to submit a report to Fifa on the outcome of the elections.At this stage, the only outstanding elections are the ones of the NFA presidency, which are expected to be conducted on October 28 in Windhoek.For the post, acting president John Muinjo and Blue Waters owner Hendrik Dawids are the only candidates to date, but there has been talk about several other dark horses who might join the fray.At this stage, The Namibian Sport has confirmed that Dawids, a businessman by profession, is lobbying support in the regions.Dawids earlier told The Namibian Sport that he plans to transform domestic football into a professional setup, especially on the league level, while he also aspires to have a credible youth development structure, which is currently non-existent.Muinjo, who took over in an acting capacity after the resignation of Judge President Petrus Damaseb earlier this year, wants to surround himself with a competent administration and also wants to go the professional way on all levels and focus on youth development.Muinjo, well known on the regional and international scene as well, will emphasise his more than eight years of experience during his campaign.The league closes on December 17 for Christmas.It will resume in the second week of January and run until May. //Hoebeb said the fixtures for the season will only be ready by the first week of November.The opening of the domestic football season has been delayed for close to three months now, with internal fights among the football bosses being the major contributor.The season was supposed to kick off in August, but a squabble over the leadership of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) broke out after a concerned group formed an interim committee, as they attempted to take over the affairs of the mother body.The interim committee sidelined the current executive committee under acting president John Muinjo, by holding an extraordinary congress at which they appointed a committee headed by Hendrik Dawids.The committee pushed the NFA executive into a corner, claiming that they were not satisfied with the way in which football was run, with tribal issues also coming into the open.Intervention by the world football governing body Fifa prompted all parties to stop the fights and accept a roadmap that called for fresh elections in all the football regions.The elections were completed on Saturday with the election of Pieter van Wyk as the new head of the NPL, despite earlier hiccups that marred the process in especially the Kunene Region and within the NPL.The elections in all the other regions were completed democratically and the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), which was tasked with overseeing the process, has confirmed that their job is now completed.Agnes Tjongarero, who headed the IEC, will be expected to submit a report to Fifa on the outcome of the elections.At this stage, the only outstanding elections are the ones of the NFA presidency, which are expected to be conducted on October 28 in Windhoek.For the post, acting president John Muinjo and Blue Waters owner Hendrik Dawids are the only candidates to date, but there has been talk about several other dark horses who might join the fray.At this stage, The Namibian Sport has confirmed that Dawids, a businessman by profession, is lobbying support in the regions.Dawids earlier told The Namibian Sport that he plans to transform domestic football into a professional setup, especially on the league level, while he also aspires to have a credible youth development structure, which is currently non-existent.Muinjo, who took over in an acting capacity after the resignation of Judge President Petrus Damaseb earlier this year, wants to surround himself with a competent administration and also wants to go the professional way on all levels and focus on youth development.Muinjo, well known on the regional and international scene as well, will emphasise his more than eight years of experience during his campaign.