MTC draws curtain on NPL

LIMBA MUPETAMI

WINDHOEK



Telecommunications giant MTC yesterday announced the end of its sponsorship of the Namibia Premier League (NPL) after 19 years.

This 19-year chapter eventually came to a close after 12 months of squabbles between the Namibia Football Association (NFA) and NPL to get footballers onto the pitch to play.

The NFA's 16th extraordinary congress voted to expel the NPL from their structures, and as feared, the telecommunications giant also decided to end its run of funding the domestic league.



We helped groom players

According to MTC's Tim Ekandjo, their investment over the years has seen local players develop into professional sportsmen and enabled them to support their families.

Ekandjo explained that after discussions in March, MTC agreed not to renew its three-year sponsorship deal with the NPL after the season ends, but they still decided to give them time until the end of September to resolve issues with the NFA and to start the league.

He explained that they decided to hold the NPL budget till the end of the MTC financial year, and should the league not resume before then, the NPL would forfeit its budget.



We overextended help

“We were more than generous to give the NPL four extra months till the end of September to either get the league started or forfeit their entire budget.

“We kept our promise, however now that the NPL is officially expelled by the NFA and therefore now a non-existent body, this automatically makes any agreement we had with the NPL null and void and they have therefore by virtue of their expulsion forfeited their entire budget and any other obligations we might have with them.

“We will no longer be holding this budget till the end of September and this will bring our 19-year relationship in which we invested over N$168 million to a very sad end,” he said.



Legacy down the drain

Ekandjo further said that is indeed a sad development for football seeing that MTC and NPL shared a rich history that spanned many years, “and seeing it going down the drain in this manner is rather disappointing and a decision the leadership of football will have to live with.”

Ekandjo added that MTC was aware of the unresolved case the NPL has with the Court of Arbitration of Sports, but no matter the outcome, the sponsorship was off the table.

“Our role is to give money for football to be played, so we will not get involved in what happens between the NPL and NFA,” he emphasised.



The ball continues to roll

Asked by Namibian Sun if the rumours are true that MTC plans to sponsor a Super League organised by the NFA, Ekandjo said they had not been approached by anyone with such a proposal.

He added that the company had communicated its decision to the expelled executive members of the NPL - chairperson Patrick Kauta, vice-chairperson Bonnie Paulino, Peter Nakura, Gabriel Tjombe, and NPL CEO Harald Fulle - as a courtesy before they read about it in the media.

“We will not take back anything we have invested in NPL. All the money that we have given to them for the season, they have depleted.

“Moving forward, we will continue to commit to the Dr Hage Geingob Cup and now the MTC Hopsol Youth Soccer League among other sports codes. MTC will continue to invest in Namibian football and has recently announced an N$13.5 million sponsorship towards the MTC NFA Cup for the next three years,” Ekandjo added.