Shivute slams NFA over Bester

ELIPHAS Shivute, who is helping Eleven Arrows midfielder Rudolph Bester to earn a contract abroad, has accused the Namibia Football Association (NFA) of trying to destroy Bester’s future.

An angry Shivute rubbished reports issued by the NFA secretariat that Bester had jumped camp without permission to fly out of the country to attend trials in Belgrade, Serbia. Shivute said that he approached national coach Ben Bamfuchile on Tuesday morning to ask for the withdrawal of the player from the travelling Brave Warriors squad to face Tunisia this weekend.According to Shivute, Bamfuchile had no problem with the release of the player, saying it was good for his future and that the national team did not own him.The coach further promised to come back to Shivute with other members of the technical staff and Bester himself at a meeting to be held at Soccer House to settle the matter.But that didn’t materialise, according to Shivute.Shivute tried to get an answer from the NFA but was unsuccessful until told by Warriors team manager Tim Isaacs that he should send a letter requesting Bester’s withdrawal.He hastily wrote a letter but Isaacs allegedly turned down the request and threatened Bester with possible expulsion from the national team if he did not honour the national call-up.Shivute said he received no feedback from the NFA but was under the impression that coach Bamfuchile had no problem with releasing Bester.Shivute and Bester then rushed to Hosea Kutako International Airport on Tuesday afternoon for him to catch a flight to Serbia, via Johannesburg.Barely two hours later the national team left for Tunisia without Bester.”I am spending N$15 000 for the boy to go for trials.I am not benefiting from this.All that I am doing is trying to help him,” he said.”These guys at the NFA don’t understand.They didn’t play football.They only know Bester at the field, Soccer House and at the hotel.But I know his background and have seen where he comes from in Otjiwarongo.You can’t imagine the contrast between his family home and being the Namibian player of the year.”According to Shivute, Isaacs and the NFA were not sympathetic and did not have the interest of the player at heart.The NFA on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Bester of absconding from the national team and threatening to press charges against Bester.”At the moment no official position has been taken by the NFA other than the normal procedure of pressing charges.We however regret the involvement of senior club officials of his club in this whole fiasco,” the statement read.”The coaches were yesterday approached by Nana Tjombe and Eliphas Shivute to withdraw the player from the national camp as they wanted to send him to Serbia for trials.The coaches declined on the basis that the national team assignment was on a Fifa approved date,” the statement states.According to the statement, the NFA secretariat only received the letter requesting the player to be withdrawn at 16h10 on Tuesday.The association also turned it down on the basis that they were not informed about the matter and that the association had paid for his flight to Tunis.”We then learned that the player had left camp without permission and was nowhere to be found.We than confirmed with the airport authorities that the player left the country at about 17h00.This implies that at the time the letter came to the NFA the player had already left camp,” it read.Namibia SportShivute said that he approached national coach Ben Bamfuchile on Tuesday morning to ask for the withdrawal of the player from the travelling Brave Warriors squad to face Tunisia this weekend.According to Shivute, Bamfuchile had no problem with the release of the player, saying it was good for his future and that the national team did not own him.The coach further promised to come back to Shivute with other members of the technical staff and Bester himself at a meeting to be held at Soccer House to settle the matter.But that didn’t materialise, according to Shivute.Shivute tried to get an answer from the NFA but was unsuccessful until told by Warriors team manager Tim Isaacs that he should send a letter requesting Bester’s withdrawal.He hastily wrote a letter but Isaacs allegedly turned down the request and threatened Bester with possible expulsion from the national team if he did not honour the national call-up.Shivute said he received no feedback from the NFA but was under the impression that coach Bamfuchile had no problem with releasing Bester.Shivute and Bester then rushed to Hosea Kutako International Airport on Tuesday afternoon for him to catch a flight to Serbia, via Johannesburg.Barely two hours later the national team left for Tunisia without Bester.”I am spending N$15 000 for the boy to go for trials.I am not benefiting from this.All that I am doing is trying to help him,” he said.”These guys at the NFA don’t understand.They didn’t play football.They only know Bester at the field, Soccer House and at the hotel.But I know his background and have seen where he comes from in Otjiwarongo.You can’t imagine the contrast between his family home and being the Namibian player of the year.”According to Shivute, Isaacs and the NFA were not sympathetic and did not have the interest of the player at heart.The NFA on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Bester of absconding from the national team and threatening to press charges against Bester.”At the moment no official position has been taken by the NFA other than the normal procedure of pressing charges.We however regret the involvement of senior club officials of his club in this whole fiasco,” the statement read.”The coaches were yesterday approached by Nana Tjombe and Eliphas Shivute to withdraw the player from the national camp as they wanted to send him to Serbia for trials.The coaches declined on the basis that the national team assignment was on a Fifa approved date,” the statement states.According to the statement, the NFA secretariat only received the letter requesting the player to be withdrawn at 16h10 on Tuesday.The association also turned it down on the basis that they were not informed about the matter and that the association had paid for his flight to Tunis.”We then learned that the player had left camp without permission and was nowhere to be found.We than confirmed with the airport authorities that the player left the country at about 17h00.This implies that at the time the letter came to the NFA the player had already left camp,” it read.Namibia Sport