Teams out of league

FORMER Nationwide First Division teams, Blue Boys, Pupkewitz Unam and Zambezi United “have relegated themselves” from the newly formed Southern Stream League after they failed to arrive for playoffs in Mariental over the weekend.

The three teams failed to turn up for first-division promotion and relegation playoffs that aimed at establishing a single Southern Stream League before the kick-off of the domestic season. NFA official and organiser of the playoffs Eric Hansen told The Namibian Sport yesterday that the teams “technically relegated themselves to the second division by not honouring their commitments”.”We have already postponed the playoffs to accommodate the concerns of the team, but they still decided to stay away.The teams that turned up played and the others were awarded points.The decision of the NFA is binding and we will not entertain any excuses from these teams,” said Hansen.The teams present at the Mariental Stadium where the matches took place were Fire Chiefs (Mariental), Pescanova FC (Luederitz) Invincible FC (Windhoek), Mighty Birds (Rehoboth), Hotspurs FC (Windhoek) and Bee Bob Brothers from Mariental.These teams will now be the first six in the newly formed Southern Stream League, which replaces the former Central West Nationwide First Division and the Southern Zone.The three teams that absconded will not get another chance as the NFA has already issued fixtures of the second-division teams that will now vie for places into the first division.Only 12 teams are required for the new league.Six teams to join the winners at the weekend will be decided at playoffs this weekend at the same venue.The teams that will be involved are Diamond City, African Blizzards, Marco Atlanta, Flying Eagles, Young Eleven, Desert Rollers, Aranos FC and Kingston United.In fact, Marco Atlanta, Kingston United and Aranos FC are first-division teams and were involved in the playoffs at the weekend, but ended on the losing side, and are thus given another chance to try their luck.Unam complained about little time to prepare, Zambezi United wanted to play in a tournament in Windhoek, while Blue Boys declared a dispute and wanted the involvement of the Namibia Sport Commission (NSC) on the newly formed league.Hansen said the reasons provided by the teams were not relevant and they “have to bite the bullet”.NFA official and organiser of the playoffs Eric Hansen told The Namibian Sport yesterday that the teams “technically relegated themselves to the second division by not honouring their commitments”.”We have already postponed the playoffs to accommodate the concerns of the team, but they still decided to stay away.The teams that turned up played and the others were awarded points.The decision of the NFA is binding and we will not entertain any excuses from these teams,” said Hansen.The teams present at the Mariental Stadium where the matches took place were Fire Chiefs (Mariental), Pescanova FC (Luederitz) Invincible FC (Windhoek), Mighty Birds (Rehoboth), Hotspurs FC (Windhoek) and Bee Bob Brothers from Mariental.These teams will now be the first six in the newly formed Southern Stream League, which replaces the former Central West Nationwide First Division and the Southern Zone.The three teams that absconded will not get another chance as the NFA has already issued fixtures of the second-division teams that will now vie for places into the first division.Only 12 teams are required for the new league.Six teams to join the winners at the weekend will be decided at playoffs this weekend at the same venue.The teams that will be involved are Diamond City, African Blizzards, Marco Atlanta, Flying Eagles, Young Eleven, Desert Rollers, Aranos FC and Kingston United.In fact, Marco Atlanta, Kingston United and Aranos FC are first-division teams and were involved in the playoffs at the weekend, but ended on the losing side, and are thus given another chance to try their luck.Unam complained about little time to prepare, Zambezi United wanted to play in a tournament in Windhoek, while Blue Boys declared a dispute and wanted the involvement of the Namibia Sport Commission (NSC) on the newly formed league.Hansen said the reasons provided by the teams were not relevant and they “have to bite the bullet”.