Van Wyk refuses to budge

NAMIBIA Premier League (NPL) chairman Anton van Wyk yesterday insisted that he would stay put despite a decision by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to have another round of elections for the chairmanship of the domestic football body.

Van Wyk was elected as chairman by 11 clubs at an elective congress earlier this month, but the elections were declared null and void after several irregularities were uncovered. There is no date set for the next elections yet.Van Wyk, who was re-elected as chairman for a second term, said he had no interest in taking part in further elections and regarded himself as the legitimate leader of the NPL.”I was elected by the clubs and the process was declared free, fair and transparent by the IEC.Why are they making a U-turn now? The process is complete and we need to move on,” he said.He said the next stage was to organise an NPL annual general meeting (AGM) where the clubs would look into the internal issues of the body, such as finances.The IEC held a meeting on Tuesday this week, observed by Fifa Development Officer Ashford Mamelodi, which decided to scrap the election for the NPL chairmanship and calling a fresh election.The argument of the IEC is that two relegated premier league clubs, Chief Santos and Touch & Go, were not supposed to vote.Van Wyk beat the other candidate, Pieter van Wyk, by six votes to five.Santos and Touch & Go are according to the Namibia Football Association (NFA) already relegated, but the two clubs took part in the voting process insisting that they had lodged appeals with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC).The NSC will hear their appeals on October 17.Anton Van Wyk said the two clubs voted legally, as they were still part of the league because their appeal cases had not been heard yet.The reasons why the two clubs have appealed to the NSC are not yet clear, but The Namibian Sport understands that it is related to the June 3 extraordinary congress, where it was discovered that not all the NPL members were in good standing.NSC chief administrator Rusten Mogane, to whose office the appeal was made, could not be reached for comment yesterday.Neither could Chief Santos and Touch & Go officials.Van Wyk slammed Eleven Arrows, Tigers and Ramblers for allegedly complaining to the IEC after their candidate lost the election.The three clubs had apparently voted for Pieter van Wyk.African Stars abstained from voting.Anton Van Wyk also questioned the authority of the IEC to declare the elections null and void and said that they did not follow proper procedures.”The IEC should have appealed through the proper structures (NFA) and they acted without any mandate to nullify the results,” he said.Earlier, IEC chairperson Agnes Tjongarero was quoted as saying that the clubs who gathered for the election earlier this month were not honest with the commissioners and were pushing their own agendas forward instead of working in the interest of the game.Meanwhile, the regional elections are expected to conclude tomorrow, with Erongo, Karas and Otjozondjupa choosing their new executive committees.The NFA elective congress will be held on October 28.There is no date set for the next elections yet.Van Wyk, who was re-elected as chairman for a second term, said he had no interest in taking part in further elections and regarded himself as the legitimate leader of the NPL.”I was elected by the clubs and the process was declared free, fair and transparent by the IEC.Why are they making a U-turn now? The process is complete and we need to move on,” he said.He said the next stage was to organise an NPL annual general meeting (AGM) where the clubs would look into the internal issues of the body, such as finances.The IEC held a meeting on Tuesday this week, observed by Fifa Development Officer Ashford Mamelodi, which decided to scrap the election for the NPL chairmanship and calling a fresh election.The argument of the IEC is that two relegated premier league clubs, Chief Santos and Touch & Go, were not supposed to vote.Van Wyk beat the other candidate, Pieter van Wyk, by six votes to five.Santos and Touch & Go are according to the Namibia Football Association (NFA) already relegated, but the two clubs took part in the voting process insisting that they had lodged appeals with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC).The NSC will hear their appeals on October 17.Anton Van Wyk said the two clubs voted legally, as they were still part of the league because their appeal cases had not been heard yet.The reasons why the two clubs have appealed to the NSC are not yet clear, but The Namibian Sport understands that it is related to the June 3 extraordinary congress, where it was discovered that not all the NPL members were in good standing.NSC chief administrator Rusten Mogane, to whose office the appeal was made, could not be reached for comment yesterday.Neither could Chief Santos and Touch & Go officials.Van Wyk slammed Eleven Arrows, Tigers and Ramblers for allegedly complaining to the IEC after their candidate lost the election.The three clubs had apparently voted for Pieter van Wyk.African Stars abstained from voting.Anton Van Wyk also questioned the authority of the IEC to declare the elections null and void and said that they did not follow proper procedures.”The IEC should have appealed through the proper structures (NFA) and they acted without any mandate to nullify the results,” he said.Earlier, IEC chairperson Agnes Tjongarero was quoted as saying that the clubs who gathered for the election earlier this month were not honest with the commissioners and were pushing their own agendas forward instead of working in the interest of the game.Meanwhile, the regional elections are expected to conclude tomorrow, with Erongo, Karas and Otjozondjupa choosing their new executive committees.The NFA elective congress will be held on October 28.