Perhaps coincidentally, the sickening ongoing war of words between the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) and its supposed commercial arm just came about at the time when Namibia has qualified for her sixth successive appearance at the IRB Rugby World Cup finals to be hosted by Japan, next year.
Yours truly has been following with keen interest the finger-pointing and counter-accusations between these two factions where the members of the rugby board are being accused of hijacking Namibia’s participation for the World Cup to get on the gravy train.
Such a prosaic set of circumstances pales in comparison to human beings waiting anxiously for a lion to kill his prey for his daily meal – only to pounce on the unsuspecting king of the jungle for their own benefit.
Strange as it sounds, the unrelenting Namibian rugby board must be applauded for standing their ground by not bowing to all sorts of threats and bluffing.
For starters, the formation of Namibian Rugby Ltd is highly questionable in many aspects given the secretive fashion in which this organ was called into life.
It’s a well-documented secret that the depth of feeling amongst the rugby followers with a significant chunk descendants from the previously and still advantaged communities, is that the oval ball game should remain in the domain of the minority whites.
Interestingly, and obviously not quite strange, Namibian rugby icon one Jacques Burger, has also joined the chorus of disapproval towards the rugby board – unfairly castigating the union for standing their ground under the guise of protecting the players – wait a minute, who’s fooling who here?
Burger is an iconic athlete, loved and adored by Namibians from all walks of life, but the moment he starts sticking his nose into the internal affairs of domestic rugby – his impartiality and patriotism become questionable, subsequently placing his integrity and credibility under serious scrutiny.
Bravado “El Jesus”
The lukewarm reception of newly crowned Namibian World boxing champion Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda, is a clear demonstration that Namibians do not really appreciate the value and contribution of athletes towards the cause of nation building.
This is a man that was not so long ago completely written off as a has-been – only to awaken from the jaws of obscurity but his astonishing victory is going unnoticed in certain quarters. There is this sickening misplaced perception that when athletes reach the age of thirty – they should vacate the sporting arena and make way for younger blood.
Ambunda has proven that age is just a number because winning a world title away from home, nogal against a local favourite, is no mean feat and this boy and his handlers must be accorded the respect they so dearly deserve as true sons of the soil.
It’s always a Mount Kilimanjaro to scale because fighting away from home requires a knockout if one is to entertain any desire of winning because boxers have to zig-zag their way past home decisions and a volatile home crowd.
Congratulations to Ambunda and his team of handlers, notably Bro Imms Moses, well done boys. I rest my case.