An open letter to football authorities

Any investment in any kind of relationship must be reciprocated – simple as that. The drawn out marathon dispute between some of the country’s leading football clubs from the expelled flagship league, the Namibia Premier League (NPL) and the country’s football governing body, the Namibia Football Association (NFA), must be put to bed for the good of football and everybody associated with the beautiful game.

Let me first start with the defiant clubs, guzzle the blade, put your principals and whatever legitimate arguments you might have in store aside, find common ground with the newly established NFA top tier league and get the slippery spherical object rolled.

The time is now up; we can no longer afford to continue playing on the green table behind closed doors in boardrooms. Football should be played on the green surface (fields), period!

Nonetheless, it cannot be business as usual because some of these clubs are at the behest of blokes who have fallen out of favour with football authorities. The brothers have been essentially rendered redundant through their suspension without a fair trial.

Fair enough, the very same NFA have extended invitations to these particular clubs to apply for membership to their envisaged top tier league without considering the consequences of their financial backers.

My humble advise to the NFA hierarchy, swallow your pride, lift the suspension without further delay and start on a clean slate for the sake of progress. Central to the misplaced belief that you have normalized football, you have somehow gravely failed to harmonize the game through the continues divide and rule tactics.

The days of football clubs being run by supporters are long gone unless we are desperate to take the game a few steps backwards. Lest we forget, numbers don’t lie, statistics suggest that all the clubs that have tasted sustainable success in the domestic league are those with strong financial backers.

Truth be told, Black Africa, Eleven Arrows, Civics, African Stars, Ramblers, Orlando Pirates, Blue Waters, Tura Magic, Tigers, were amongst some of the chief beneficiaries from bosses with deep pockets.

Rundu based outfit Julinho Sporting are currently amongst few of the most stable clubs in the business and the moment you take my former Ramblers FC teammate Nelson Louis out of the equation, that club will become statistics.

The mere fact that you have left the door open for the defiant clubs to become part of the new dispensation is a crystal clear indication that you obviously value their potential contribution towards the overall growth of domestic football and must be applauded.

But alas, a financially weakened African Stars, Eleven Arrows or Black Africa for that matter would serve no purpose to the ultimate cause. Let go of the nauseating tactics of ‘pushing the envelope’ without breaking the rules; instead, rules are slightly bent, albeit often into shapes in which they are barely recognisable, amounting to foul play becoming an art rather than a crime.

Accepting applications from disgruntled club supporters is committing a grave error of judgement; as such, unethical practice would likely creates a wench between management, players and followers. There should be a set criteria; one cannot just accept applications from every Dick – even Tom and never mind Harry, who might be biting more than what they can chew.

Yours truly sincerely hopes and trusts those at the helm of clubs and their learned colleagues in the corridors of the NFA Football House, set their differences aside, engage in matured dialogue and find common ground. I rest my case!