There is a new spirit in Namibian football that can be attributed to one man going by the name of Bobby Samaria, who has single-handedly transformed previously perennial underachievers Tigers into a formidable unit and serious title contenders this term.
It was a marvel to watch the country’s oldest football team against Namibian champions Black Africa at the half-packed Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek, last weekend. Both teams returned the compliment to the many neutral fans who came to witness firsthand the top of the table clash by dishing out top class football.
Samaria has showed once again that he has very little peers in domestic football when it comes to tactics and game plan. Its now well documented secret that Samaria’s teams always strive to play attractive football with lots of emphasis on ball possession while keeping shape at the back.
One player who impressed the most was none other than Tigers enterprising overlapping fullback Treasure Kauapirura. The boy was marvelous as he defied his rookie tag with enormous attacking flair and solid defence reminiscent of former African Stars tireless fullback George Gariseb.
He kept asking questions through his deep runs and stamina that gave the Black Africa rearguard a torrid time. It was his final delivery that resulted in the opening goal netted by Zimbabwean import Priasho Kabwe – a certainty for goal of the year contender.
However, the young man blotted his near faultless display when he assaulted a ballboy in the dying minutes of the match in what he interpreted as time wasting.
Under normal circumstances, his action should have earned him a straight red card but for some strange reason – he went unpunished very much against the spirit of fair play.
It’s the duty and sole responsibility of the Namibia Premier League (NPL) to take retrospective action against such unbecoming acts of violence, but knowing the customary toothless league authorities, yours truly doubts very much that any action will be taken or let alone whether the incident will draw any attention.
Another sad tale is the unwarranted and disgusting practice of can throwing on the football pitch that has reared its ugly head again. Surely, the league should take action against the culprits before people get seriously injured or lose their lives.
The usual lame excuse that the league does not have a properly constituted Disciplinary Committee (DC) is absolute nonsense because such acts have the potential to bring the beautiful game of football into disrepute, so to speak!.
The league should interrogate its own structures if it wants to patch up its fragile code of conduct while the need to introduce strict preventative measures must enjoy top priority. It goes beyond any comprehension as to why security and the encouragement of good behaviour are not enjoying priority by the league’s hierarchy.
Seriously speaking, the league needs to introduce sanctions to scare off potential troublemakers, but alas, what we are witnessing on a daily basis is lots of lip service without any action being taken against offenders and whenever action is taken, the culprits are normally reprimanded via a gentle wrap on the knuckles before being sent to Coventry. I rest my case.
By Carlos Kambaekwa