Namibia Football Association debacle results in cancellation of international matches

WINDHOEK, Nov. 14  — An ongoing wrangle between Namibia Football Association (NFA) secretary general Barry Rukoro and the FIFA-backed NFA president Frans Mbidi has resulted in the cancellation of planned visits for Namibia’s under-23 and under-20 teams to Angola and Zambia respectively.

The under-23s were pencilled in for an assignment against Angola for the Olympic Games qualifiers this weekend and the under-20s were scheduled to take part in the COSAFA Junior tournament in Zambia in December.

NFA spokesperson Den Kamati confirmed on Wednesday that the both teams’ future assignments have been iced because of a lack of funds, adding that NFA president Mbidi has refused to sign off the requested budget request from their FIFA allocation because of the ongoing impasse with Rukoro.

“The under-23s were supposed to travel to Angola for the Olympic qualifiers but we do not have the funds to cater for that,” said Kamati. “The under-20s trip to Zambia for the COSAFA tournament is also uncertain because of a lack of funds. Most of the finances have been channelled to the senior national team, who have an assignment against Guinea-Bissau this weekend.”

The NFA executive committee had dismissed Mbidi last week before the decision was overturned by FIFA.
“I have spoken to the secretary general and he confirmed that the money for the two junior teams has not been released and that the president has not agreed to sign the funding request, hence the cancellation of the planned assignments,” said Kamati.

FIFA insists that the supposed firing of Mbidi was not in line with their statutes. They also wrote a letter seeking clarity on Rukoro’s current employment contract. – XINHUA