Duiker suspended by NSSU and Cossasa

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The Namibia School Sports Union (NSSU) national coordinator and Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa (Cossasa) president, Solly Duiker was on Wednesday suspended by the two bodies.

The NSSU suspended its longest-serving coordinator after a failed trip to Potchefstroom, South Africa earlier this month which saw only Namibia and Lesotho athletes pitching up for games that were supposed to be competed for by athletes in the Cossasa region.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, NSSU chairperson Theofilus Nuungula said their coordinator organised games and “misled” the board with planned activities which were not found upon arrival in Potchefstroom.

“The NSSU paid N.dollars 430 000 towards the athletes’ meals and accommodation for these games, but when we arrived in Potchefstroom their accommodation was not sufficient and we had to seek other accommodation for the athletes,” he said.

Duiker failed to communicate all the logistics with the Namibian team before their trip, he added.

“We did not participate in any games because only Namibia and Lesotho were at the games. Lesotho only brought one team while Namibia had six teams and there were then some local teams that wanted to play against us, but the organising committee took a decision to withdraw our athletes from the games,” Nuungula said.

The NSSU chairperson stated that after doing a post-mortem of the whole event, the NSSU national council decided to suspend its coordinator while investigations are ongoing.

“While the investigation is ongoing all queries relating to NSSU can be directed to its chairperson and NSSU commissioner Patrick Xoagub,” he said.

The NSSU coordinator who only has two months left on his contract before retiring, was on Tuesday also suspended by Cossasa as its president for contravening article 15:13 of its constitution.

A letter seen by this agency stated that Duiker over-exercised his powers as president and contravened the constitution.

It’s stated in the suspension letter that he withdrew money without the second authorisation signature and made unauthorised payments. He misled the executive on a just failed Cossasa games held in Potchefstroom, which put Cossasa as a body in disrepute and his questionable relationship with the United School Sports Association of South Africa (USSASA).

Duiker was instructed to hand over all Cossasa documentation within 72 hours to the NSSU office.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency