Sheefeni Nikodemus
26 May 2011
According to the competition’s rules, Isaacs cannot feature in the final against Eleven Arrows because he “received two yellow cards in a match” leading up to the final.
Stramis said the rule in question should be interpreted to mean that a player will be suspended if he receives two yellow cards in the course of the tournament and not in a single match.
While acknowledging that his player has received two cautions – in two separate encounters – he pointed out that the rule was erratic, something that association’s secretary general Barry Rukoro admitted to, Stramis said.
“We went to Barry (Rukoro) and he acknowledged that the rule was written wrong,” Stramis told The Namibian Sport yesterday.
“We act according to the rules. I blame Barry for the blunder. He is the one who signed-off that document. It’s disturbing that they don’t know their own rules.”
However, despite Civics’ protests, the NFA has refused to budge.
“The rules are clear,” said Tim Isaacs from the NFA’s competitions department. “Heinrich Isaacs received two yellow cards in two different matches and therefore he is suspended for the final.”
Stramis added: “We know we can go and play ‘Heini’ but (Eleven) Arrows will play under protest.
“Because of the NFA blunder, we feel hard done by and we have lost our best player and captain for the final.”
The aggrieved Civics official said they cannot lodge a complaint against the NFA.
“How can you complain to NFA against the NFA,” charged Stramis. “We know we are right but
To add to Civics woes, the NFA also decided to host the Cup Final at Kuisebmond Stadium in Walvis Bay, which is Arrows’ backyard.
The competition’s organisers had initially announced that the semi-final and final matches would be played at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium.
Civics expect the organisers to foot the bill for the trip to the coast.
“It is the prerogative of the OC to set the venue of the final,” said (Tim) Isaacs. “The OC came to the conclusion that it does not make football sense to host (the Cup Final) at a venue where there is poor attendance.
“The attendance of the semi-final was very low,” he added. “If we play at the Kuisebmond Stadium we would have more people in the stands than we would have had at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.” The match kicks off at 15h00 and entrance is N$30.
AllAfrica – All the Time