AN alleged player mutiny sparked by outstanding wages at Ramblers that has led to an exodus of a number of star players has been rubbished by club official Nelson da Purificacao.
The club was said to be under severe duress after key players Emilio Martin and Athiel Mbaha began training at Premier League rival Tigers, coupled with the departures of star strikers Sadney Urikhob to Civics and Alfred Ndyenge to Indian second-division club Southern Samity. However, da Purificacao told The Namibian yesterday that none of his personnel had abandoned the club, which was plagued by financial woes and a failed takeover bid at the start of the season. While Mbaha’s contract with the club ended in December, making him a free agent, Martin is still contracted to Ramblers for another year and half. Da Purificacao has since accused Tigers of lacking professionalism and attempting to poach Ramblers’ joint top scorer. ‘Civics was the only club that approached us for two of our players and that was Sadney Urikhob and Alex Ferreira. No other club has made contact with us,’ said da Purificacao. ‘Mbaha’s contract expired in December so he can play for any club he wants. Emilio is a Ramblers player. He trained with the club on Friday and Saturday and then on Sunday we hear he trained at Tigers. The official also said he sympathised with players who were a being mislead by clubs promising better deals. ‘These players don’t understand contracts. If you want to leave them you must inform the club, you can’t just go to another team,’ da Purificacao said. ‘If any team wants our players, then they must contact us and not send their officials to the players’ houses.’Furthermore, he said the alleged wage dispute was a fabricated scenario by disgruntled players and rivals who wanted to conceal their underhand intentions. ‘There’s no such problem. I’m so fed up with the state of Namibian football. People here are so unprofessional. That story [of outstanding salaries] is just made up by people who want to put Ramblers’ management in a bad light,’ said da Purificacao.
