FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) says Ranga Haikali remains the legitimate president of the Namibia Football Association (NFA).
This follows a series of virtual meetings held on 21 September 2021 between FIFA-CAF (Confederation of African Football) representatives and the president, general secretary and executive committee of NFA pertaining to a decision “purportedly” taken by some executive committee members against the president on 13-14 August 2021.
In a FIFA letter seen by Nampa and addressed to NFA general secretary Franco Cosmos dated 07 October, FIFA said they did not recognise the decision to suspend Haikali.
“We would like to point out once again that we are not in a position to recognise the aforementioned decision which we consider invalid. In addition, we would like to highlight our disappointment and serious concerns regarding the overall direction taken by the NFA lately, especially for a FIFA member association which only came out of a normalisation phase in 2020,” the letter which is signed by Kenny Jean-Marie states.
FIFA says it would like to see NFA executive and administrative officers move forward under the leadership of president Haikali for the good of Namibian football.
Cosmos confirmed receiving the letter but remained defiant, saying Haikali remains suspended until the exco pronounces itself on the matter.
“Article 14 of the NFA statutes is clear, FIFA has said what they said but the exco has to make a decision. The exco did not suspend the president out of the blue, there were reasonable grounds to do so. The exco followed the statutes,” Cosmos said.
On 13 August, the NFA exco resolved to suspend Haikali on charges that included refusing to add proposed agenda points for an exco meeting, and withholding crucial information of owning shares in companies that were providing services to the NFA, amongst other charges.
Earlier in August, Haikali had charged Cosmos with nine counts including gross insubordination, non-compliance with NFA procedures and policies by refusing to obey instructions and relaying false or fraudulent information.
Speaking to Nampa on Thursday, Haikali said he had just seen the letter on social media so he could not make any comment as yet.
However, he reiterated his call for unity in the exco, saying he has always been willing to engage and work with them for the sake of football.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
