Sport must fund itself, says Geingob

Sport must fund itself, says GeingobGovernment sidelines football matters While the nation was looking to the president to rescue the local football league, President Hage Geingob has made it clear that the government will stay out of football matters. President Hage Geingob says the government will not get involved in the problems faced by football, as FIFA does not allow politicians to meddle in the running of the sport.

Responding to questions from the media during the year-end review of the Harambee Prosperity Plan at State House on Tuesday, Geingob said he was a sport lover but his hands were tied by the rules prohibiting the government to intervene.

“We are staying outside because the rules are clear; if we intervene, Namibia will be expelled by FIFA.

We are running the government, do not expect us to run football; it is impossible for us to run football,” he said. On funding, Geingob said sport must fund itself.

He said sport leaders were quick to accuse the government of failing to run the country while they were failing to run football clubs.

“Our stadiums are always empty when teams are playing. People must go to the stadiums and pay.

Look at other countries, when there is football, the stadiums are packed. What is the difference? Something is wrong there,” he added.

The president''s remarks seemed to suggest that the government will not be doing more than it is already doing not only for football, but sport in general.

Football in Namibia is currently going through difficult times as no Premier League games are being played due to lack of funding.

Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) withdrew its sponsorship offer of N$15 million after the Namibia Premier League (NPL) failed to source an additional N$9 million after presenting a N$24 million budget.

Meanwhile, Namibian diamond company DebMarine came to the rescue of Namibian football when it announced a sponsorship for the Namibia Football Association (NFA) Cup for the next three years.

The diamond company announced on Thursday that they would sponsor the competition to the tune of N$14.1 million, with a commitment of N$4.7 million to the Cup.

NAMPA