WINDHOEK – The planning and delivery of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Championship was marked by three years of prolonged labour pains that were so tasking that the tournament’s midwives breathed huge sighs of relief yesterday, as the clock ticked away to the kick-off at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek tomorrow.
Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sport and Culture Permanent Secretary Gabriel Sinimbo was one of the relieved midwives, saying although things did not go well at the beginning, and “there were a number of items we were not happy with, as a ministry,” the showpiece is finally taking off smoothly. “All the guests are now here,” he said yesterday.
Besides the logistic challenges, sourcing the required funds elicited the most pangs, which oblivious to outsiders, took days of calculations, re-budgeting and reprioritising of projects to find the N$90 million needed to host the tournament.
“We did not have a budget, and there were things that were not good with us as a ministry,” he says of some of the conditions that needed to be met, but which the ministry was not aware of beforehand.
Further, finding money meant that number crunchers reprioritise items, and Sinimbo says the downside is that “because of limited resources, some projects were affected.”
CAF awarded Namibia the rights to host the 2014 edition of the African Women’s Championship in 2011. This meant Namibia had three years to prepare for the competition, which will benchmark the country’s ability to stage further international events.
In the end though, the ministry came through, and when Namibia’s Golden Brave Gladiators make the first kick in the opening match against Zambia tomorrow, Namibia will officially add its name to the African countries that have hosted the tournament.
This competition has since its inception in 1998 been hosted by only three countries – Nigeria, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea on a two yearly rotation basis. From Namibia it goes to Cameroon in 2016.
“We are bankrolling this competition in millions. It’s a very expensive exercise. Government is responsible for everything, ranging from the teams’ transport and accommodation to ensuring that all facilities used for the championship were renovated and in good shape as per CAF specifications,” Sinimbo said proudly.