Military School saga is dangerous

I wrote in my last column about a fortnight ago that further delays in the start of the MTC Namibia Premier League are dangerous.

In that column I pleaded with the leadership of the league and football in general to iron out issues and assure that the MTC Namibia Premier League starts on time.

My words have not gone cold yet and now the league faces another big decision after the Military School claimed that it had not sold the club to Okahandja United.

The school recently wrote a letter, claiming it was not aware of the ownership change at the club, formerly known as Military School FC.

On Wednesday, the NDF sent a letter to Namibia Premier League (NPL) chairperson Patrick Kauta.

The letter was signed by NDF chief John Mutua and said they never authorised the renaming and change in ownership of Military School FC and would take further steps in this regard.

This is a month after the club established itself as Okahandja United under a new leadership.

The decision to change the ownership was prompted by the fact that two NDF teams, namely the Military School Football Club and Mighty Gunners Football Club, both qualified for a place in the NPL, and this is in contravention of article 18(3) of the Namibia Football Act and article 20 (2) of the Fifa Statute.

The strange part is that it took the NDF more than three weeks to announce that the club had been changed to Okahandja United even after media reports circulated in the past few weeks.

I feel that the NDF decided to make their move or reverse a decision they had made earlier because some of the club’s players had been released by the club.

The club came under fire for the alleged unfair dismissal of 16 players who had helped the team gain promotion to the NPL.

The players were shown the door after they demanded bonuses for helping the team gain promotion to the Namibia Premier League (NPL) this year, when the side was still known as Okahandja Military School.

The club responded by saying that it did not owe the players bonuses, but the former owners [the Military School] were the ones that owed them.

Now this is one of the reasons I believe that the Military School has decided to make a U-turn on its decision.

The worst of all is that these things are happening when we are a week away from the start of the MTC Namibia Premier League.

I am sure that African Motto, who initially were to be promoted after it was discovered that the Military School was ineligible to play in the NPL, are watching the situation with keen interest.

It is going to become very ugly if these things are not sorted immediately.

The league will face another delay if this matter becomes a legal battle between the owners of Okahandja United and the Military School.

The fact that Okahandja United has already brought in players from other teams and a coach will make it difficult for them to let go of the club.

I also wonder what will happen to these players who left their clubs to join Okahandja United if the Military School wins the case.

I hope there is an immediate solution to all this because it can become very disturbing and dangerous if the league fails to start because of such problems.

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