Fifa 'more powerful than UN'

Fifa director of development for Africa and the Caribbean, Veron Mosengo-Omba, says the organisation is more powerful and well-connected than the United Nations.

He said this during a sloppily-run media conference held on Friday at the Avani hotel to announce the members of the NFA normalisation committee for Namibia.

Mosengo-Omba, a highly-experienced operator, was appointed to mediate the local football fracas, which has engulfed the Namibia Football Association (NFA).

He initially refused to take questions from local journalists on Friday, including on the current state or positions of NFA secretary-general Barry Rukoro and its president Frans Mbidi.

After the journalists threatened to stage a walkout, Mosengo-Omba eventually took questions.

He said the normalisation committee members will serve on a four-month contract basis and that they were appointed after eligibility and credibility checks was done.

Mosengo-Omba said the situation at the NFA is very difficult and that Fifa cannot accept that football is not played in one of its member association's jurisdictions.

“On 8 January, the (Fifa) council decided to appoint the normalisation committee that will be tasked to run the NFA's daily affairs, to ensure that the members of the NFA, whose executive committees are out of mandate, organise and conduct the relevant elections,” Mosengo-Omba said.

He added that once the elections have been held at member level, and the elections of a new NFA executive committee are conducted, the normalisation committee will be dissolved.

“Today this normalisation committee are the bosses of football in Namibia and they will prepare and run football the way they see fit.”

Normalisation committee chairperson Hilda Basson-Namundjebo said they will meet tomorrow to familiarise themselves with what their job is all about.

“On Tuesday, we will see what's needed,” she said.

The other committee members are Franco Cosmos (vice-chairperson), Gabby Ahrens, Matti Mwandingi and Vivienne Katjiuongua.

Basson-Namundjebo is a renowned businesswoman, while Cosmos, Mwandingi and Katjiuongua are all lawyers by profession, and Gaby Ahrens heads the Namibia Athletes Commission.



What is expected

According to www.lawinsport.com, the members of normalisation committees are not required to have any particular skillsets, but usually the members hail from the country in which the national association is based.

Normalisation committees are made up of different members from different backgrounds, albeit with some knowledge or experience of football and financial and legal affairs.

The website said that all members of the committee are required to pass an eligibility test, in accordance with Fifa statutes and governance regulations, which is conducted by the Fifa review committee.

The normalisation committee takes over the day-to-day running of the member association whilst drafting new statutes and policies for the association that adhere to the FIFA statutes and relevant national law.

The new statutes must contain, at a minimum, provisions relating to neutrality in politics and religion, the prohibition of discrimination, independence from any political interference, judicial independence and respect for the laws of the game.

The normalisation committee also organises and conducts elections for a new executive committee. None of the members of the normalisation committee are able to run for any of the vacant positions in the elections.

Members of the existing executive committee are required to vacate their posts whilst the normalisation committee does its work. If they wish to take up positions in the new executive committee, they are expected to contest the positions in the elections organised by the normalisation committee.

LIMBA MUPETAMI