The Namibia Sport Commission (NSC), acting through the directorate of sport within the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture, on Tuesday settled an amount owed by the Namibia Deaf Sport Federation (NDSF) to a service provider.
The federation had accrued a debt of more than N$240 000, placing the return flights of Team Namibia at risk following the conclusion of the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics, held in Tokyo, Japan.
Speaking to Nampa last week, the NSC’s chief administrator Freddy Mwiya confirmed that the ministry had directed the commission to settle the arrears as a matter of urgency.
“We can confirm that the payment has been made to the service provider. Therefore, the team will be returning home. The ministry was initially supposed to make the payment, but as you know, Wednesday is a public holiday, so this was not possible. They requested us to intervene, which we did,” he said.
NDSF president Abner Sheya expressed the federation’s gratitude to the Government of Namibia and the NSC for stepping in to cover 50% of the outstanding flight costs.
“This support has allowed our team to return home with dignity. As a federation, we have learnt that early and detailed budget planning and engagement with the government are essential. Going forward, we will ensure funding applications are submitted earlier, with clear and realistic budgets. We will work closely with the government and partners to guarantee that most of the team’s needs are secured before travel,” he said. Sheya added that despite not securing medals at the competition, the federation remains grateful for the backing received.
“We sincerely thank the Government of Namibia, the Namibia Sport Commission, NamPower and MTC for their support. We have learnt a great deal from this experience and are committed to strengthening deaf sport in Namibia moving forward,” he said.
Team Namibia was scheduled to depart Tokyo on 28 November and was expected to arrive in Namibia on Saturday.
Sheya was to remain in Tokyo to attend the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf Congress, which ended yesterday. -Nampa