NFA tightens team ownership regulations The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is going to strictly implement Fifa’s club licensing regulation. The NFA cites Fifa’s Article 9.2.1 “A” L03, which reads: “No owner is allowed to have more than one club participating in one Fifa-affiliated competition.”
It says this is aimed at avoiding match-fixing and other football irregularities.
Two clubs playing in the North-West First Division - Eleven Warriors and Tropical Heat - are from the Grootfontein military base.
According to the division’s chairperson, Fire Vatilifa, they were told that these teams represent different sections of the Namibia Defence Force, but they are investigating whether it constitutes single ownership.
“We find out that these teams share transport whenever they are going to play their games and when they pay their league registration fees they use a single cheque. We are still investigating them and if we find out they are owned by one organisation, one will be relegated automatically,” Vatilifa said.
This also affects the Okahandja Military School, whose team is vying for a place in the North-West First Division. They will be involved in playoffs with Unam Ogongo, Africa Motto and Etosha Port in Tsumeb this weekend.
Vatilifa said these four teams will be competing for three positions and the chances are good that Okahandja Military School will be promoted to the First Division.
“Okahandja Military School stands a 75% chance to join our division and become the third military club. We gave them the go-ahead for now, but once our investigation is completed two of these military clubs are going be relegated. Their chances of match-fixing are going to be very high,” Vatilifa said.
He said this implies that if any other military club is promoted to the Premier League where Mighty Gunners are playing already, such team would forfeit its position.
The same will apply if Mighty Gunners are relegated to the North-West First Division.
“This will not only apply to defence and police clubs, even if Unam Ogongo get promoted to the Premier League one day, they will forfeit their place unless the Unam Football Club is relegated,” he said.
During the 2012/13 football season, when Oshakati City were relegated to the Oshana Second Division, owner Ben Hauwanga had to forfeit his ownership of another second-division team, City Pros, to avoid them being relegated. City Pros were then renamed Oshakati United.