Cash woes hit NRUUnion battles to keep head above water NRU president Corrie Mensah says the previous administration left them with millions in debt.
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The Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) is battling to remain afloat financially, because of the mess left by the previous administration.
This is according to NRU president Corrie Mensah.
Mensah spoke exclusively to Namibian Sun after reports that two union employees were not paid their salaries on time last month.
He explained that finances are so bad they could only pay the employees after earning some money from a gospel show staged at the Hage Geingob Stadium a few weeks ago.
Mensah stressed they may also struggle to pay employees at the end of this month, because the grant the union normally received from World Rugby now goes to Namibia Rugby Limited (NRL), the business arm of the union.
This was because a false picture had been presented of the NRU, he said.
The two entities have been at loggerheads despite mediation from the sports ministry and the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC).
The battle is about which entity should rightfully administer rugby affairs in the country.
“The previous NRU management left us with a lot of debt. Debt of millions,” Mensah said.
“The people who were previously in charge took the sponsors with them (referring to Namibia Breweries Limited), so there is really no cash flow.”
Mensah said he is in position to ask for a bank overdraft, but will not do so, as there is no guarantee the money will be paid back.
“The people practiced irresponsible financial management. You cannot incur debt knowing very well that you have no source to pay back and that you are leaving,” he said.
Mensah said the current NRU management is not speaking out in order to be malicious or to tarnish Namibia's Rugby World Cup dream, but they are in dire need of help.
Friendly called off
Mensah said Namibia's planned friendly against Kenya was called off as a result of constant enquiries from their side about why three management posts for the match were given to South Africans by the NRL.
Namibia were supposed to play Kenya in order to ensure that the national team is in top form for the upcoming November tour to Europe. Expenses were to be covered by World Rugby and the Kenyan Rugby Union.
“How can you call South Africans to occupy the post for the friendly knowing very well that there are Namibians who can do the job? It's against policies set by the NSC,” Mensah explained.
“Why don't you empower Namibians? What is wrong with that? After the World Cup they all exit without leaving any kind of knowledge behind. There must be understudies.”
Director of Namibian rugby and head coach, Phil Davies, is believed to have drawn up the names of the proposed managers, as well as the squad.
However, a press release issued by NRL last Friday said the team list had been submitted too late for approval by World Rugby.
“The NRL submitted the completed team and management staff to the NRU for approval. Changes were made by the NRU to the management team.”
The three management staff names submitted by the NRL to the NRU for approval were that of JP Nel (national team assistant coach), Irvin Newman (team manager) and Innis Erasmus (physiotherapist).
“These selected management staff have been working with the team since the inception of the high-performance programme. Questions of the three management staff caused a delay in the team as well as the management team sent off (sic).”
The statement said further that should the final team have been confirmed last week, it would have been too late to prepare travel plans, which include airfare and medical requirements, amongst others.
“A lot of preparation goes into sending a team to another country,” the statement read.
Way forward
The two entities are set to meet with sport minister Erastus Uutoni this week to find an amicable solution to their misunderstandings, after the NRU withdraw from a cooperation agreement with the NRL.
Mensah was tasked to draw up draft recommendations, in order for the relationship to work.
“The NRL defied orders, even from the sports commission. We have no seats, voice or influence in their house. Even the sports commission cannot dismantle them, because they are registered with the ministry of trade,” Mensah added.
NRL fires back
NRL chairman and former NRU president, Bradley Basson, said it cannot be denied that the union had incurred debt under the previous management, and will most likely continue to incur debt under Mensah's leadership.
“When I took over as president during 2012, the debt of the NRU was at a record high, which none of my predecessors ever had to deal with. Needless to mention, the union at the time had qualified audited financial statements for a period of at least 12 consecutive years before I took over.
“During my leadership, the previous board between 2012 and 2018 achieved unqualified audited financial statements for six consecutive years. The majority of the debt of the union mostly relates to flight costs, which is understandable, and has the tendency to increase more towards Rugby World Cup qualification.
“This is also a direct result of the increased participation in tournaments, such as the Currie Cup and a change in the Rugby Africa Gold Cup competition format, which resulted in an increase in games and ultimately travel and related costs. With growth, one expects some challenges,” Basson said.
He added it is costly to increase the level of performance on the field and become more competitive on the world stage, and that that this should be accepted and planned for.
“We can, as a rugby playing nation, choose to remain mediocre, not play any competitions, not incur flight costs and not have debt to complain about. I guess it depends, to a great extent, on how the leadership views the debt and what strategies they will put in place to manage the debt and turn the situation around.
“This will no doubt require relationship building with creditors and continuous engagement to restore stakeholder confidence,” Basson added.
He said these financial issues were one of the reasons why NRL was established to manage the union's assets, including the high-performance programme, and to secure increased sponsorship in order to take this type of pressure away from the union.
“With the current impasse between the NRU and the NRL, it goes without saying that it does not assist much in securing sponsorship or stakeholder confidence, and as such, clearly the NRL cannot function at an optimal level.”
LIMBA MUPETAMI