Maqonda Ndlovu
Brave Warriors captain Peter Shalulile has come out guns blazing, condemning the state of the country’s footballing facilities, saying the current state of affairs has been going on for way too long.
This is among some of the things the national team players are not happy with, including their camping facilities at the Namibia Football Association Technical Centre
Speaking after the Brave Warriors finished their morning training session at the SKW Stadium yesterday, Shalulile said for players to play good football, everything needs to be in order.
“To play good football, you need a good ground. Everything should flow smoothly for players to give 100%. It is not everyone that has a good character to deal with all these things,” a visibly dejected Shalulile said.
He added that the problems currently besetting the football national teams come from 11 years ago.
“We have been here before; we have been through this, hoping that things will change. Things are not happening. We are just trying to build football for the next generation that will come after us; we want to lay a foundation to make sure that when they come on board and we are no more here, they get things that are up to standard and take the game of football to a greater height,” Shalulile said.
The Mamelodi Sundowns goal poacher said while he has no words for the responsible authorities at the moment, there will come a day when enough will be enough, and he will address them accordingly.
Shalulile’s outbursts come at a time when the national team is preparing for a crucial Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier against Burundi in Tanzania next week.
The local-based national team players have been in camp for the past two weeks, with international players joining this week.
They then requested the NFA to find ‘better’ training facilities, and it turned out to be the SKW Stadium, which hosted the bulk of the 2022/23 Namibia Premier Football League.
When pressed for comments, Collin Benjamin refused to get drawn into the issue, saying it is not his job to discuss the issue of facilities.
“In all honesty, ask the right people about the issue of the stadiums and facilities. I am just a plumber, and I deal with plumbing problems; ask the electrician about electric problems,” he said while acknowledging that everybody knows the situation about facilities.
Benjamin said while it affects his job, he will always prepare the team as best as he can, while hoping that one day they will be able to train and play at good facilities at home.
He said while the players may be unhappy with the state of affairs at the moment, they have proven their patriotism by sacrificing their holidays to represent the country.
“If it was different, they would not be here representing Namibia, and they are on the verge of qualifying for Afcon for the second time in four years. As a nation, we have to ask ourselves what can we do to help them achieve this,” Benjamin said.
He added that he was not worried that the players are expressing their displeasure about facilities – and as a technical team, they will do their part to contribute to a big job being done by the players from a ‘bare minimum’.
Benjamin said having the players have not dropped the standards even though there are underlying issues, and he was happy with the way they applied themselves during the training sessions.
Approached for comment, Freddy Mwiya said he agrees with the sentiments expressed by the team captain and sympathises with the team.
“Unfortunately, our hands are tied on this, as the ministry is responsible for the construction and maintenance of facilities in Namibia. We can only offer advice. I know there are plans to remedy the situation as we speak,” he said.
The acting secretary general of NFA Jochen Traut acknowledged the bad state of facilities in Namibia, saying lack of money from the mother body was hindering them.
“We are working with what we have at the moment. The NFA has a lot of debt; we are struggling to raise funds to even hire the Hage Geingob Stadium,” he said.
He said camping outside Namibia is expensive, and the NFA cannot afford to have the team camping abroad.
Traut said they have decided to have the team camping at NFA because the mother body cannot continue paying hotels when they have facilities, which he acknowledged were not up to date.
He further acknowledged that the standard of food given to the players in camp was not up to standard; hence, they will have to improve the kitchen and boarding facilities.
“It is a learning phase for us. We just need to upgrade these facilities. We have the facilities, so we do not need to stay at expensive hotels. The budget they got from the International Association Football Federation was not enough,” he said.
Ministry of sport executive director, Mbumba Haitengela responded to questions sent to him by saying government is in the process of appointing a consultant for the repairs and renovation of the Independence Stadium in line with Caf standards.
He said, “unfortunately, the state of affairs of the Independence Stadium is known to everyone. Mitigating the shortcomings at the stadium requires adherence to the lengthy procurement process that will result in the commencement of the renovation and construction, which the ministry is currently engaged.”