Still no sponsor for premier league

Still no sponsor for premier leagueExtraordinary AGM to decide NPL date Desperate measures and decisions will be taken at the Namibia Premier League (NPL) extraordinary AGM later this month. The Namibia Premier League (NPL) extraordinary annual general meeting two weeks from now will possibly have the final say on when the league will start, says NPL spokesperson Cassius Moetie.

The extraordinary AGM will be held on 15 January in Windhoek and all 16 premier league clubs are expected to attend.

Moetie says the league still does not have enough sponsors, with just a month to go before the scheduled kickoff set at last year's AGM.

The league has secured a N$9 million sponsorship over three years from Groot Systems but still needs N$21 million.

Speaking in an interview yesterday Moetie said: “The year has just begun and all I can tell you at the moment is that we do not have a sponsor by now.

“One of last year's AGM resolutions was that the Namibia Premier League must and will start in February provided that there is a sponsor on board.

“Therefore, the extraordinary meeting will definitely review the situation and possibly pave the way forward as far as the starting date for the league is concerned.

“All 16 clubs in the premier league will form part of the AGM and will be required to take a decision with regard to the current financial situation.”

One of the many things on the agenda will be a discussion and possible amendment of the NPL constitution.

The league's problems started when its former sponsor, MTC, withdrew at the end of the 2015/16 season. The reason was that the league had failed to raise the additional N$9 million that was required.

Since then, the Namibia Premier League officials have been in search of what could possibly be the biggest deal in the history of the local game.

Citizens FC boss David Goagoseb said he was unaware of the extraordinary AGM on 15 January since it had not been communicated to his club by the NPL officials.

He expressed concern about the proposed starting date for the league, saying that it was a bit premature to set a date while the league had not secured the necessary funding.

Goagoseb predicted that most of the clubs would overrule the decision taken at the last AGM, given the circumstances most clubs find themselves in.

“I believe it was a strange and a blind move to announce that the league would start in February even though the N$21 million had not been secured.

“The thing is that clubs have not been training and that it is why I do feel that the month of February was just going to be too soon for the league to start.

“However, we still await communication from the NPL office to give us an official invitation to the AGM and to give us a programme for the meeting,” Goagoseb said.



JESSE JACKSON KAURAISA