Zebaldt Ngaruka
The Gobabis Municipality’s decision to close the only Omaheke Sports Complex has been accepted by various stakeholders.
The two football pitches at the complex are in a shabby state, and thus left the municipality with no other options but to close it, and enable the field to rehabilitate.
One of the stakeholders, the Namibia Rural Sports Development Federation’s (NRSDF) interim president Ngatuuane Hange, said the closure was indeed necessary as the field was overused.
“We do not have a problem and we respect the municipality’s decision. He added that the NRSDF is not affected as most tournaments are done.
“We will have a final All Stars tournament that will be honouring former NRSDF president Kumbee Ngakuzevi, and dates and venue will be announced in due course,” said Hange.
He added that this is the second closure this year following the earlier closure in January to April for recovery before hosting The Namibian Newspaper Cup tournament.
Hange said the municipality was supposed to grow the grass and add fertilisers during the first closure.
“This would have enabled proper recovery, but instead the municipality just watered the field which resulted in bad recovery,” he said.
Ground squirrels are also one of the challenges affecting the sports field as they dig holes in the pitch.
Omaheke’s Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU) chairperson Ivo Mate said it is a very unfortunate situation for the field to be closed, however, he added that they understand the reasons.
He said most schools’ sporting activities are over, and the learners are now focusing on academic preparations.
“Only the academy players will be affected, and it is high time to look for other alternatives.” He suggests government intervention and injecting more funds into developing other sport fields in the region.
Young African’s manager Maleagi Ngarizemo also welcomed the news of the temporary stadium closure.
“We respect the municipality’s decision as the closure is for a good cause,” he said.
Ngarizemo noted that the other alternative if the league starts while the field is not ready will be to play home games in Windhoek.
“But we are hopeful it will open before the premier league commences,” he said.
There are no exact dates for the opening of the stadium but the municipality’s spokesperson Frederick Takulu Ueitele estimated early November 2024.
“The opening will be determined by the field recovery, and we hope it will be earlier than expected,” he said.