Football fraternity left in limbo

Namibia Premier League was left high and dry this week when its main sponsor MTC pulled out of the N$15 million deal.
At a joint press conference between NPL and MTC, Tim Ekandjo, MTC spokesperson, said, “We have deliberately taken a decision not to allow the NPL to commence with the league because for too long the NPL has not been able to operate optimally when starting the league with such a huge deficit”.
“Despite its efforts, NPL has not been able to secure an additional sponsor or rather the N$9 million, and therefore MTC has now officially withdrawn its conditional commitment of N$ 15 million per annum and N$45 million over 3 years,” he said.
Ekandjo said this move now formally means that MTC will officially not renew its partnership with the NPL.
“We wish to assure the public that MTC will remain a credible and enthusiastic partner not just of football but sports in Namibia,” Ekandjo said.
Furthermore, he said their intention is to reinvest all funds meant for the NPL in other sports codes.
“We are however not going to share any details on that now. No sports code that we sponsor must have expectations that we will become a lifetime sponsor, we sign 3 year agreements, and decide to renew them on merit, there should therefore be no lifetime expectations because the need for sport funding in the country is great, and the sports fraternity naturally look in MTC’s direction for assistance,” he said.