WINDHOEK – As far as both Black Africa and Orlando Pirates coaches, Ronny Kanalelo and Lucky Kakuva are concerned, Namibian football is a million moons away from being semi-professional and unless things change, it is just a mere amateur league.
The two mentors took full advantage of yesterday’s pre-match press conference, which was initially aimed at promoting Sunday’s Katutura derby between Black Africa and Orlando Pirates, to vent out their frustrations about the ongoing system of teams playing twice a weekend.
First to release his verbal missile was Kanalelo, who blasted the league’s hierarchy for taking such a decision without properly evaluating the implications it could have on the players’ health and quality.
“Like they say, you have to be a footballer in order to think like a footballer. We have already complained about the thing of playing two competitive football matches within a space of 24 hours and the implications it could have on our players’ health and general quality, but nobody seems to see anything wrong with such a system. People complain about the poor quality of football but what do you expect with such a system in place,” said a frustrated Kanalelo.
The former Brave Warriors acrobatic goalkeeper, who like many other league coaches is clearly growing tired of playing twice a weekend, further went on to pin-point the poor brand of football on the pitch and lack of marketing while he also saw everything wrong with the way Namibian football is conducting its business.
At the other end of the table, Pirates mentor Kakuva joined the chorus and bemoaned the lack of adequate recovery time for the players. “How can you play two games over the weekend and expect players to train on Monday, it’s just impossible. But looks like we have no choice but to deal with it and take the risks of unwarranted injuries on our players.”
Kakuva has, however, partly made peace with the situation by constantly rotating his already overworked players in a desperate bid to stay afloat in the league title race.