UNAM Hockey Club is not in debt and does not owe any money to the Namibia Hockey Union (NHU), according to its secretary Kamburee Gawaxab.
Unam coach Erwin Handura on Tuesday said they had withdrawn from this year’s Bank Windhoek Field League due to outstanding registration fees of N$12 000 to the NHU, but Gawaxab on Wednesday said they were not in debt.
“We have already settled our debt and we don’t owe any money to the NHU. It’s just that our payment system takes quite a long time – it has to go through the sport office and then the dean of students and then to the finance department before payments are issued, so its quite a long process, but this has now been completed and we have settled our debt with the NHU,” she said.
According to Gawaxab the main reason for their withdrawal from this year’s field league was rather because of the late start to the league.
In the past the field league normally took place from June to September, but this year’s league only started at the end of August and will only be completed by the end of October.
“We looked at the fixtures and the duration of the league and it didn’t make sense for us to enter, especially during exam time. Most of our players are students so we don’t want to jeopardise their futures by making them participate in the league,” she said.
Gawaxab said the players were continuing with training and would be back for the indoor league next year.
“We are continuing training while the men have played several matches against the national women’s squad which is preparing for their test series against South Africa. We are also planning a tour in November and will be back for the indoor league next year,” she said.
The president of the NHU, Marc Nel confirmed that Unam had paid their outstanding debt, but only after they were threatened with suspension.
“Yes, they cleared their debt, but the payment was only made yesterday. After the indoor season we took an exco decision that clubs who are not paid up and have long outstanding debts must be suspended. We had problems with four clubs in this regard, but after that two clubs paid up, while the other two started paying off on their debts,” he said.
“Year after year we have the same problems with the same clubs who don’t pay their fees and we can’t continue like this,” he added.
Wanderers poach Unam players
Unam’s inactivity in the field league has now led to further problems after three of their players were used by Wanderers without their consent last weekend.
The three players – Sasha Chioza, Baggio Karigub and Nelson Ekandjo – played for Wanderers in their Men’s Premier League match against Windhoek Old Boys last Sunday, despite the fact that Wanderers had not received a clearance letter from Unam for the players.
“Wanderers must get written clearance from Unam for the players, but that never happened, so now we are drafting a letter and will take it up with the NHU,” Gawaxab said.
Unam coach Handura said he had objected against their use before the game, but it fell on deaf ears.
“Before the game I wrote on the TD sheet that these guys can’t play and also informed the TD official and the three players, but it fell on deaf ears. Wanderers coach Johan Weyhe wrote on the TD sheet that the three were guest players, but they are still registered with us and are not guest players. Guest players normally refer to students from South Africa who come up to play one or two games during university breaks,” he said.
Nel said the rules were clear and that Wanderers would be deducted points if found to be guilty, once the issue had been dealt with.
“The NHU rules are clear and you need to have a clearance letter according to the bylaws of the constitution. If a club uses players who have not been cleared, then that team will lose the points of that match. We will look into the matter at our next exco meeting,” he said.
“If a player is not happy at a club and does not receive clearance then he must take it further like, in Unam’s case, with the sport officer or the registrar, because it’s not the NHU’s job to get the clearance,” he added.
