Masilingi quits 50–50 academy partnership to start own venture

A sports academy co-owned by Olympic finalist Beatrice Masilingi and Miguel Matias has effectively collapsed just three months after its registration.

Now, the former business partners are reportedly in a dispute about who conceived the project, what each contributed and why their working relationship ended.

Documents seen by Namibian Sun show that Masilingi Sports Academy CC was registered with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (Bipa) on 15 May, with Masilingi and Matias each holding a 50% interest.

Masilingi told Namibian Sun recently she has abandoned the original academy – despite the continued joint ownership – and is in the process of registering a separate entity called Masilingi Sprints Academy.

“I have decided to move forward independently and do things my way,” she said.

Ultimately, she said, disagreements over funding and the academy's direction convinced her to end the working relationship.

“I can see we don’t share the same vision, and I’m going to move on by myself. I think it works best because then I don’t have to be worried about whether somebody is going to contribute their share of the costs,” Masilingi said.

Masilingi said establishing a separate academy was her preferred way to end the partnership.

“I have simply started a new entity and decided to run it independently,” she said.

His version

In a separate interview, Matias told Namibian Sun he played a central role in developing the original venture and was subsequently pushed aside.

The Bipa documents list the original entity as specialising in sports apparel, event hosting, marketing and the supply of sports products, with its registered office on Bahnhof Street in Pioneers Park, Windhoek.

Matias said he was involved from the beginning, assisting with the academy’s registration, administration, planning, training schedules and other groundwork. He claims Masilingi initially joined the project as an athlete before deciding that she wanted to become involved in coaching.

According to Matias, the academy was intended to concentrate on athletics and later expand into other sporting disciplines. He said he has documents, correspondence, training schedules and group discussions that support his account of the project’s development.

Matias also alleged that Masilingi offered him N$500 to leave the academy, then increased the proposed amount to N$1 000.

Namibian Sun could not independently establish the purpose and terms of the alleged payments from the information available.

Partnership dissolves

Masilingi disputed Matias’ account, saying she had planned the academy before he became involved and later carried most of the financial and operational burden.

She said she initially approached a Zimbabwean coach known as Boxi, whom she had worked with before, because she did not want to run the academy alone.

“Before I proceeded with the registration of the academy, I had already planned everything. I did not want to work alone, so I asked Boxi if he was available to assist me with the coaching,” Masilingi said.

She told Namibian Sun she was introduced to Matias via Boxi, with the suggestion that he could help with development because of his background in business administration.

Masilingi acknowledged that Matias helped with administrative work but claimed she had paid the Bipa registration fees, bought equipment for the athletes and covered other operating costs.

“I started realising that I’m the one putting money into this. I’m buying equipment for the athletes and covering the costs of training,” she said.

New track

Masilingi said she also established a gym at her home because the academy could not afford commercial gym memberships for its athletes.

“I have spent my own personal funds to get equipment for the academy. None of them did so,” she said.

She further claimed that she had trained athletes at the track for about a month but received limited assistance from the other people involved.

Masilingi denied removing Matias from the original venture and said he remained a registered member because he had not signed a CC2 form, which is used to record changes to the membership of a close corporation.

“I haven’t removed anyone. He is still part of the registration because he doesn’t want to sign the CC2,” she said.

The Bipa records confirm that Matias remains a 50% member, but they do not establish who originated the academy concept, how much money either party contributed or whether an attempt was made to buy out his interest.

Masilingi said she no longer intended to conduct activities through the jointly owned entity and was proceeding with registering Masilingi Sprints Academy.

“I’m busy registering for my new academy, Masilingi Sprints Academy. He can stay with the dormant academy,” she said.

Matias maintains that Masilingi took control of an idea they had developed together and later presented the academy as her own, while Masilingi says Matias’ administrative contribution did not match her financial and operational involvement.

“Yes, it did help with the administration, but other than that, there’s really nothing there,” she said.

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