South African football legend Doctor Khumalo has commended Namibia for producing talented footballers who are excelling in his country, despite the absence of a professional football league in Namibia.
Khumalo, who was a guest at the launch of the Dr Hage Geingob 2023 Football Competition in Windhoek on Wednesday, expressed disbelief that Namibia does not have a professional league due to a lack of sponsors.
“As South Africans, we are so proud to say thank you to Namibia for offering us players that make South African football lucrative,” said the former Bafana Bafana and Kaizer Chiefs legend.
Khumalo was taken aback when the chairperson of the Normalisation Committee, Bisey Uirab, appealed to the corporate sector to help professionalise local football.
“I am shocked and surprised to hear what the chairperson just said, based on the situation that you find yourself in as a country, that there is no pro-league and those sponsors are not coming through. But you still have the will to produce the great players that we are experiencing in South Africa,” he said.
He said players like Peter Shalulile at Mamelodi Sundowns had not disappointed South African football lovers.
Khumalo called for the need to develop and support Namibian football, saying, “We don’t want Namibia to be that country without football because sport unites people.”
Khumalo will be part of the South African football legends team that will take on their Namibian counterparts at the Windhoek Independence Stadium on 18 November.
MTC Chief Human Capital, Corporate Affairs, and Marketing Officer Tim Ekandjo, agreed with Khumalo that it is important to invest in local sports, including local football.
Ekandjo noted that the dismal display of the rugby national team at the ongoing Rugby World Cup was due to a lack of preparation and financial support.
“We must invest in the teams before we expect the results. I hope that we are making those investments in the Brave Warriors so that we can say to them, ‘Go to the Afcon and bring us good results.’ We cannot expect them to bring good results against countries that are much better prepared than us,” he said.
Namibia has qualified for the African Cup of Nations (Afcon), to be hosted by the Ivory Coast in January 2024. – Nampa