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Let’s not wash dirty linen in public

Home Sports Let’s not wash dirty linen in public

The ensuing brouhaha in the wake of Dr Vetumbuavi Veiis’s much-hyped appointment as chairperson of the country’s presiding sports body, the National Sports Commission (NSC), is childish and uncalled for, to say the least.
The re-appointment of the strongly-built former African Stars and South West Africa midfielder Doc Naobeb, has also been placed under the microscope by armchair critics.

For obvious reasons, including religious or cultural beliefs, people will always have differing views on how things should be done and all that kind of jazz, but as a people our togetherness is strictly guided by rules and regulations.
As the designated appointing authority, Sport Minister Jerry Ekandjo was within his mandate to appoint his preferred candidate, since the law does not require the minister to consult his underlings on the matter.

Not that yours truly is in total unison with the recycling of sports officials, but to assign all the blame to the two appointed gentlemen is a bit unfair. As mature citizens, people must learn to carefully control their emotions and should not allow themselves to get carried away by minor disagreements that can be solved around the table.

It’s a well-documented secret that when they feel aggrieved some of our sport administrators and officials have for long abused their positions of trust to settle old scores at the slightest provocation. Yours truly is making a humble plea to those involved in this unfortunate and ugly debacle to humble themselves and apply the brakes on these ongoing shenanigans that threaten to derail progress.

There is more than meets the eye to this whole issue and unless somebody calls people to order it could have catastrophic consequences.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating

Watching domestic topflight football is becoming an eyesore of late. Wait a minute – it’s not that the players or teams are playing crap football. It’s about the many empty seats that greet the few spectators in attendance. Football is part and parcel of entertainment and playing in front of empty stadiums can have a devastating and demoralising effect on the athletes’ performance.

The buck stops with football authorities and the clubs to market the game in the most appropriate fashion through promotions, be it on television, printed media, posters – and more importantly radio – because in our country the latter is still the most wide-reaching means of spreading information.

Promoting football should not be the sole province of sport scribes. It should be a collective effort from all stakeholders. But alas, how can we promote football if some of the leading coaches are not prepared to cooperate, notably when the media want to write previews?

The league should introduce hard-and-fast rules that would oblige clubs and coaches to grant interviews to the various media houses. Failure to adhere to such should result in punishment. Finish and Klaar!
Namibian football is hopelessly poorly marketed and unless something drastic is done, our most valuable sporting asset could be destined to become a delicacy for stray dogs.

Yours truly would like to urge all stakeholders to join hands and tackle this issue collectively if we are to abandon and avoid the current slippery slope on which the beautiful game finds itself.
I rest my case.