Rukoro rejects pay demands

NAMIBIA Football Association (NFA) acting secretary general Barry Rukoro has taken a swipe at national team players who demand payment from the cash-strapped association, saying that the mother body will not give in to any threats.

Rukoro told The Namibian Sport in an interview yesterday that the association was currently in no position to pay players their performance and camp fees because it does not have the money. Rukoro said this after one of the players apparently confronted him, demanding payment, after Namibia’s match against Zambia on May 26 in Windhoek.According to Rukoro, the player in question was now retired Namibian defender George Hummel.Rukoro said so far none of the players had received their appearance and camp fees for that match and that the association “will not bow to threats and demands by players over payment”.He said Government would pay them and that the payments were still being processed.He said the payments for the Libya game were made this week, but payments for the Zambia match were still outstanding.”The players will be paid when the money is available.We as the association and me as the acting secretary general cannot entertain demands of paying the players.We already made it clear to all of them that we are not in a position to pay them those monies and that Government, through the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), is in the process of channelling the funds through to us,” he said.He said Hummel was being unreasonable in demanding a cash payment of N$2 500 owed to him for doing duty during the Zambia match, while the rest of the players have shown understanding of the precarious financial situation of the association.Hummel retired from international football late last week, just three days ahead of Namibia’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Libya.At the time, Hummel said it was time for him to step down and for the young generation of defenders to take over.Rukoro said the association was proud of the current squad which is in camp, because they have according to him shown understanding on the process of payment.”Once you are in the national team, you are doing duty for the country and there are rules and policies in place that need to be followed once you are there.At this stage, we are closely dealing with the NSC for giving us the funds.They (NSC) are the ones who have been doing that all these years in accordance with the policies that are in place.We cannot jump to the demands of players.It is unacceptable and we are not going to entertain that,” he warned.Players receive an appearance fee of N$2 000 each, while they also receive a daily fee of N$200 per player for being in camp.Meanwhile, Brave Warriors team manager Tim Isaacs confirmed that minor changes are expected to be made to the side which faced Libya this week.He said at this stage, the 20 players who were involved in the weekend clash are still in camp, but the technical staff would possibly make minor changes by bringing in some players.He said it was not yet determined if more players will be brought into the camp or if some would be released ahead of the next African Nations Cup qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on June 16 in Windhoek.The side has been training at the Ramblers Stadium since Monday and that will serve as their training ground until match day.Namibia needs to win the match against the DRC to stand a better chance into the last 16 of the competition, which will be held in Ghana next year.The 12 group winners and the best three runners-up from the four team pools secure places at the finals, which start from January 20 until February 10 in Ghana.Hosts Ghana qualify automatically.Egypt has won the Nations Cup more often than any other country, with their latest victory being last year to make it five, while Ghana and Cameroon have each won it four times.Rukoro said this after one of the players apparently confronted him, demanding payment, after Namibia’s match against Zambia on May 26 in Windhoek.According to Rukoro, the player in question was now retired Namibian defender George Hummel.Rukoro said so far none of the players had received their appearance and camp fees for that match and that the association “will not bow to threats and demands by players over payment”.He said Government would pay them and that the payments were still being processed.He said the payments for the Libya game were made this week, but payments for the Zambia match were still outstanding.”The players will be paid when the money is available.We as the association and me as the acting secretary general cannot entertain demands of paying the players.We already made it clear to all of them that we are not in a position to pay them those monies and that Government, through the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), is in the process of channelling the funds through to us,” he said.He said Hummel was being unreasonable in demanding a cash payment of N$2 500 owed to him for doing duty during the Zambia match, while the rest of the players have shown understanding of the precarious financial situation of the association.Hummel retired from international football late last week, just three days ahead of Namibia’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Libya.At the time, Hummel said it was time for him to step down and for the young generation of defenders to take over.Rukoro said the association was proud of the current squad which is in camp, because they have according to him shown understanding on the process of payment.”Once you are in the national team, you are doing duty for the country and there are rules and policies in place that need to be followed once you are there.At this stage, we are closely dealing with the NSC for giving us the funds.They (NSC) are the ones who have been doing that all these years in accordance with the policies that are in place.We cannot jump to the demands of players.It is unacceptable and we are not going to entertain that,” he warned.Players receive an appearance fee of N$2 000 each, while they also receive a daily fee of N$200 per player for being in camp.Meanwhile, Brave Warriors team manager Tim Isaacs confirmed that minor changes are expected to be made to the side which faced Libya this week.He said at this stage, the 20 players who were involved in the weekend clash are still in camp, but the technical staff would possibly make minor changes by bringing in some players.He said it was not yet determined if more players will be brought into the camp or if some would be released ahead of the next African Nations Cup qualifier against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on June 16 in Windhoek.The side has been training at the Ramblers Stadium since Monday and that will serve as their training ground until match day.Namibia needs to win the match against the DRC to stand a better chance into the last 16 of the competition, which will be held in Ghana next year.The 12 group winners and the best three runners-up from the four team pools secure places at the finals, which start from January 20 until February 10 in Ghana.Hosts Ghana qualify automatically.Egypt has won the Nations Cup more often than any other country, with their latest victory being last year to make it five, while Ghana and Cameroon have each won it four times.