Rukoro predicts dark football future
Many believe that the storm over Namibian football is far from over, predicting further fights, even with a new president and executive.
Former Namibia Football Association (NFA) secretary-general Barry Rukoro insisted the trouble in Namibian football is far from resolved, even with a new executive in place.
The former Football House SG, who was removed from his post by the Fifa normalisation committee (NC), accused the committee of not fulfilling its mandate.
Rukoro said this after the 28th NFA congress which elected Ranga Haikali as president along with new executive members.
“The legacy of the NC will not be the recent elections but the supposed success of those elected.
“That is what they will be judged on. The question will be: Did the NC succeed in their so-called mission to normalise football or not?
“The tenure of the NC is the most unfortunate period in the history of our game,” Rukoro fumed, adding that it will haunt Namibian football for years.
“The NC polarised our game to an extent never seen before,” he said. The congress officially suspended the Namibia Premier League (NPL), which was previously on provisional suspension.
Once a man who called the shots at Football House, Rukoro said it will take a miracle for change to happen, even if it boasts new leaders.
He said the congress failed to deal with the NPL issue in a manner that can contribute to the start of the premier league.
“My take is that the congress did not deal with the matter in a way that suggested it wants football normalised soonest and for football to start.
“The congress decision suggests that the fights are far from over and that some more underhand tactics are still at play.
“I anticipate attempts to unseat the current NPL chairperson Patrick Kauta through dubious means and to replace him with someone who will toe the line of the new executive committee.”
This is something that will lead football into more legal battles, Rukoro added.
“My take is that we are about a minimum of four months away from the NPL kick-off.”
Rukoro however advised the current leaders to go back to the sponsors and convince them to commit to new sponsorship arrangements and also find possible sponsorships with new companies.
“I see an Iraq and Libya situation here. The NC, like America, went in to supposedly normalise but created more problems,” Rukoro said.
Unionist and football commentator Olsen Kahiriri shared Rukoro's sentiments.
Kahiriri acknowledged that the NC's task in football since last February was a tough one because there was no leadership at the time.
“For them to have their work done, they had to remove the secretary-general Barry Rukoro, who to their understating was capturing football. To my understanding, they pretended not to be involved in the NFA politics but in reality, they played a huge role.
“Their actions are the sequel of the dispute between themselves and NPL which got so ugly that it ended up in court,” Kahiriri noted.
NC vice-chairperson Franco Cosmos however refuted the claims by Rukoro and Kahiriri, saying the committee fulfilled its mandate.
“I think these claims are not valid given that the NC did fulfil its mandate of ensuring that the regions are in good standing and the NFA operations are intact.
“The fact that we managed to hold a congress, as per our mandate, speaks volume of what we have achieved. The NPL being permanently suspended was not our decision but the decision of the NFA members,” Cosmos added.
Jesse Jackson Kauraisa
The former Football House SG, who was removed from his post by the Fifa normalisation committee (NC), accused the committee of not fulfilling its mandate.
Rukoro said this after the 28th NFA congress which elected Ranga Haikali as president along with new executive members.
“The legacy of the NC will not be the recent elections but the supposed success of those elected.
“That is what they will be judged on. The question will be: Did the NC succeed in their so-called mission to normalise football or not?
“The tenure of the NC is the most unfortunate period in the history of our game,” Rukoro fumed, adding that it will haunt Namibian football for years.
“The NC polarised our game to an extent never seen before,” he said. The congress officially suspended the Namibia Premier League (NPL), which was previously on provisional suspension.
Once a man who called the shots at Football House, Rukoro said it will take a miracle for change to happen, even if it boasts new leaders.
He said the congress failed to deal with the NPL issue in a manner that can contribute to the start of the premier league.
“My take is that the congress did not deal with the matter in a way that suggested it wants football normalised soonest and for football to start.
“The congress decision suggests that the fights are far from over and that some more underhand tactics are still at play.
“I anticipate attempts to unseat the current NPL chairperson Patrick Kauta through dubious means and to replace him with someone who will toe the line of the new executive committee.”
This is something that will lead football into more legal battles, Rukoro added.
“My take is that we are about a minimum of four months away from the NPL kick-off.”
Rukoro however advised the current leaders to go back to the sponsors and convince them to commit to new sponsorship arrangements and also find possible sponsorships with new companies.
“I see an Iraq and Libya situation here. The NC, like America, went in to supposedly normalise but created more problems,” Rukoro said.
Unionist and football commentator Olsen Kahiriri shared Rukoro's sentiments.
Kahiriri acknowledged that the NC's task in football since last February was a tough one because there was no leadership at the time.
“For them to have their work done, they had to remove the secretary-general Barry Rukoro, who to their understating was capturing football. To my understanding, they pretended not to be involved in the NFA politics but in reality, they played a huge role.
“Their actions are the sequel of the dispute between themselves and NPL which got so ugly that it ended up in court,” Kahiriri noted.
NC vice-chairperson Franco Cosmos however refuted the claims by Rukoro and Kahiriri, saying the committee fulfilled its mandate.
“I think these claims are not valid given that the NC did fulfil its mandate of ensuring that the regions are in good standing and the NFA operations are intact.
“The fact that we managed to hold a congress, as per our mandate, speaks volume of what we have achieved. The NPL being permanently suspended was not our decision but the decision of the NFA members,” Cosmos added.
Jesse Jackson Kauraisa
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article