Namibian football in freefallLong regarded as the most popular sport in the country, football is facing testing times for administrators and fans alike. Spectacular demise of ‘most popular code’ Namibian football has come to a crossroads, with the game facing an uncertain future on various levels.It is now well documented that the Namibian Football Association’s (NFA) coffers are running on empty, partly because the government has yet to make its annual contribution.
It is also common knowledge that the Namibia Premier League (NPL), which is the country’s topflight division, might not kick off after its previous sponsor, MTC, opted not to renew an agreement to fund the competition.
The telecommunications company had made a provisional commitment to fund the NPL to the tune of N$45 million over three years (N$15 million per year), provided that the league managed to get an additional sponsor to cover the NPL’s budget of N$24 million per season.
That meant the NPL had to recruit a sponsor willing to fund the extra N$9 million per season and N$27 million over three years.
The NPL was unable to get the additional funding, resulting in MTC withdrawing their commitment.
All fronts
Commentators, administrators and fans are in agreement that a lack of activity in the NPL will be disastrous for the local game.
But an even bigger disaster took shape yesterday after news broke that some of Namibia’s senior football team players were on strike, demanding outstanding appearance fees and bonuses.
The players yesterday met with the NFA leaders and the Namibian Sports Commission (NSC) and an agreement was reached, which meant that Namibia will still play Senegal in a 2017 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier match in Dakar this Saturday.
Although the match will not have any impact on whether or not the Brave Warriors qualify for the 2017 event (Namibia is already out of the running for a spot), failure to honour the fixture would have resulted in sanctions from the Confederation of African Football (CAF). This might have included suspension from competing in future Afcon qualifiers, or a hefty fine.
Changes
Namibia’s current woes have come as a surprise to many, as less than two years ago football appeared to be in good standing.
In 2014, the country had just seen the conclusion of an exciting Bidvest Namibia Cup while the NPL finished the second year of its MTC sponsorship.
Add to that the hosting of the first edition of the Standard Bank Super Cup and the Hage Geingob Cup, and it appeared that football had a glorious future ahead.
The fact that Bidvest did not renew its contract to sponsor Namibia’s national football competition largely went unnoticed as the other competitions went full steam ahead.
On the national front, the Brave Warriors won the 2015 Cosafa Cup; again making it seem as if the game was about to enter a successful period.
Downhill
This view was cemented by Namibia’s hosting of the 2016 Cosafa Cup, which administrators said was successful.
But everything seems to have unravelled within the space of a few months and the game now appears to be in tatters on the local front.
It also appears as though the recent moderate successes were only plasters hiding deeper problems - the most obvious of which is the inability to find sustainable sources of funding.
This conundrum has also raised questions about the management of the few sponsors still willing to partner football.
Over the last few years, Skorpion Zinc, which sponsored a national Under-17 competition, Bidvest Namibia and now MTC have all opted to not continue their involvement in the local game.
HECTOR MAWONGA