The Namibia Premier League (NPL), which was expelled as a member of the Namibia Football Association (NFA) a few weeks ago, yesterday announced that it had established and registered a new professional league with the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA), and that it had also applied for membership with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC).
The NPL’s newly established professional league, registered as a Section 21 company under the country’s Companies Act of 2004, will be entirely independent from the NFA and will embody almost all international standards of a professional football league.
The league made the announcement in a press statement yesterday, wherein it said the “standoff delaying Namibian football since 2 October 2019 is now history” as the new professional league will be the turning point of the country’s game everyone has been waiting for.
Through its registration with BIPA as a Section 21 company (an association not for gain), the NPL stated that it will “promote, administer, control, govern and regulate all professional football in Namibia in accordance with the prescripts of Fifa, Caf, NPL and NSC within the constraints of the Namibian constitution, laws and its operational manual and any other business which may seem directly or indirectly conducive to the business”.
The NPL indicated that after having accepted the NFA’s extraordinary congress resolution to unilaterally terminate its membership on 27 July 2020, they embarked on consultations with all relevant stakeholders and it was resolved to establish a professional league independent from any NFA structures.
“The NPL’s new legal structure will consist of two tiers comprising a maximum of 12 teams each, respectively known as Premier Division and National First Division managed through a congress of 25 members. The 25th member is a players’ representative. The NSC will have a purposeful observer status at congress. All 25 members of congress have equal vote and form the Board of Governors required to meet at least quarterly. The NPL fiduciary duties will fall under an executive committee of seven persons, four elected by the Premier Division, and two by the National First Division and one by the players.”
“The NPL’s daily operations will be manned by a complement of full-time staff. In furtherance of professionalisation the current executive committee was tasked to implement the transformation agenda with strict deadlines and a sponsorship committee was elected to assist it. The benefits of professionalising, amongst others, is employment creation of more than 650 people and formation of a legally and ethically managed company. The NPL envisages to conclude a collective bargaining agreement with the players’ representative to ensure compliance with labour laws, Fifa statutes and enhance living standards. An application to be registered as a national sports body has already been filed with the NSC in terms of Section 26 of the Namibia Sports Act, 2003. Discussions with sponsors to entice partnerships for mutually beneficial value propositions are ongoing,” concluded the league’s statement.
Sports Commission
to review application
Contacted for comment yesterday, NSC chief administrator Freddy Mwiya confirmed to have received the NPL’s application form and said due process will be done as far as processing the application is concerned.
“I have also had meetings with both the NFA and NPL, just to further hear both sides of their stories but more importantly to consult them and make sure we are all on the same boat. I believe the dream of all Namibians is to resolve this issue and get football started one day, and I really remain positive about that dream because the indications are there from both parties. One can see they really want football to start and issues resolved. In a few weeks’ time, after having done proper consultations with all relevant stakeholders, we will make an announcement around the new professional league,” said Mwiya.