Sports

Death has struck again as the country’s football fraternity mourns the sudden passing of former Kuisebmond unfashionable outfit Red Fire Football Club attacking midfielder-cum-political activist turned trade unionist, Naftalie Karakura Katjita.

On 3 August 2021, Caster Semenya will line up in the 200m final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Whilst yours truly was happy to see our professional footballers plying their trade in the stinking rich South African Professional Soccer League (PSL) riding the crest of the waves, one is inclined to take with a grain of salt that our boys have what it takes to be counted amongst the finest on the African continent.

Local gaffer Woody Jacobs yesterday tendered his resignation as Brave Warriors assistant coach, saying lack of trust and an unconducive working relationship between him and his employer, the Namibia Football Association (NFA), led to his decision to resign.

For former Brave Gladiators, as Namibia’s senior women football team is known, skipper Mamie Kasaona, the answer to whether it is possible to remain a true Himba girl living in the capital Windhoek and travelling the world with the Gladiators is clear: “Wherever, I will never forget my tribe.”

Today, a lot of people in the sport fraternity are thinking through their feelings, emotions and egos, and it is evident in what they say and how they act. Sport, on the other hand, has never been about the ego, emotions or positions. 

With no available remedies within the local football setup, sports minister Agnes Tjongarero has cast her net wider in search of solutions and expertise to help normalise the deteriorating situation of Namibian football.

Sivute Katamba, the acting executive director in the sports ministry, yesterday issued a stern warning to local sport administrators cautioning them that the days of running public-funded sport federations like their own personal fiefdoms will soon be over.

Much-travelled retired attacking midfielder Edwin van der Colff, famously known as “Winno” or better still “Ian Rush”, was a rare breed amongst the most lethal goal poachers of his generation.

Let me start by applauding sports minister Agnes Tjongarero and her team at the ministry for taking a bold decision to appoint an independent six-member mediator committee, which has been tasked with investigating, swotting and coming up with recommendations that will finally bring closure to the endless infights that has crippled Namibian football.