Corry Ihuhua
3 July 2009
THE Southern Stream First Division football bosses were yesterday forced to ditch the promotion playoffs until further notice, after Blue Waters threatened to pull out on Wednesday.
The chairman of the SSFD, Kenneth !Goabeb, confirmed in a letter yesterday that the playoffs have been postponed indefinitely.
"This arrangement has been necessitated by the unforeseen circumstances beyond this office's control," he stated.
Blue Waters threatened to boycott the playoffs in Windhoek, claiming that the venue is not neutral and that their players will be fatigued after travelling from the coast. They were set to play three matches on consecutive days.
Club chairman Hafeni Ndemula and treasurer Sandro de Gouveia complained bitterly in several letters to the league authorities and the Namibia Football Association (NFA).
They wanted the playoffs to be moved to a neutral venue and split over two weekends to give the players enough time to recover.
They argued that the Windhoek-based teams, Monitronic College and Invincible FC, would have an unfair advantage as their players would not have to travel like Blue Waters. They also blasted the authorities for taking decisions without consulting teams that are directly affected.
The five-time premier league champions were expected to cover a distance of 400 kilometres and still play a match on the same day (Friday).
Blue Waters, Monitronic College, Friends and Invincible FC are the sides that have made it to the playoffs and at this stage it is not known when the matches will be played.
The Blue Waters officials also argued that their club is not financially ready to play in Windhoek, as they had not budgeted for it.
Blue Waters were relegated at the end of the 2007/8 season and are currently seeking promotion, but first have to beat the other three teams before they are declared as champions of the SSFD.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Namibian. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
