NPL WILL LEARN BEST FROM FIRST DIVISIONS

The management of the Namibia Premier League has no choice but to take notes, study them and put into practice on how disciplinary cases are dealt with in football.

The officials in charge of handling matters of the second tier leagues have resolved all the pending cases for the first leg of the season in the Southern Stream First Division.

The man in charge, Mervin Geiriseb, can proudly start his lower leagues on a clean slate during the second phase, while his more superior
counterparts who tackle matters in the senior division (NPL) will carry over the unresolved cases to the next leg.

It is not surprising though, as year after year cases go unresolved and ultimately causes a problem when the league ends with teams failing to accept the outcomes because of pending cases.

I should say, Geiriseb has done a marvellous job and if I were his boss, I would recommend that he take charge of the NPL to do just the same.

He handed the cases swiftly and has put everyone at ease, while the NPL teams are still in the dark over two or three unresolved cases.

What comes to mind is the issue in which Orlando Pirates protested that current African Stars playmaker Rudi Louw was not duly registered with his new club after he moved from Black Africa – still no word on that.

The other is the disturbing issue of tin throwing antics of some African Stars supporters. This case has since been pending and there were no immediate measures instituted by the authorities to curb this. In fact, it is still the order at African Stars matches.

Despite the lack of human capacity and the availability of the members who serve on these Disciplinary Committees, in the case of the NPL it should still not be an excuse to get cases resolved.

Fact is that it gives the players, the teams and the owners of the clubs peace of mind and they can plan in earnest for the next leg of their campaigns.

I encourage the NPL, under the acting chief executive officer (CEO) Tovey //Hoebeb, the Board of Governors and the NPL management team to look into this issue critically and avoid a repeat of all the hiccups that pop up when the league ends.

Teams also have the responsibility to enquire and press for their cases to be brought to an end speedily, as it wastes time and money.

click to enlarge Corry Ihuhua