WINDHOEK – The chairperson of Confederation of African Football (CAF) inspection team tasked with inspecting Namibia’s readiness to host the upcoming African Women Championships, Dr Molefi Oliphant, says he habours no doubt that Windhoek will be ready to host the 9th edition of the women’s competition on October 11-24 2014.
Oliphant, who led a CAF Inspection team on a three-day visit to Namibia, says South Africa’s experience of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and the CHAN competitions in January this year should play an influential role in inspiring Namibia to host a successful and memorable tournament.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with nfa.org.na, Oliphant says having served in both the World Cup and CHAN’s Local Organizing Committees (LOCs), and being a neighbour of Namibia he felt obliged to use his experience and expertise in ensuring the successful organization of the women championships.
On the readiness of the facilities, Oliphant says the Namibian Football Association (NFA) and the LOC are on track in their preparation to host the event. He indicates that having served as a match commissioner here before during both previous World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, he already knew that the Independence Stadium met all the necessary requirements.
He says the two stadiums (Independence Stadium and Sam Nujoma Stadium) earmarked for hosting the tournament “technically speaking” meet the requirements, taking into account that the Independence Stadium has played host to international games previously, adding that the two stadiums have been given the go-ahead to host any match.
However, Oliphant pointed out that there are one or two minor things that would need a finishing touch, such as the dressing rooms which will need “a bit of touch up”, but was quick to emphasize that these minor matters will soon be attended to by the NFA and the LOC.
“Yes, we inspected the hotels and I must confess that hotels in Windhoek are inferior to none in Africa, let alone the world,” says Oliphant, adding that hotels such as the Country Club Resort, the Safari Hotel, Hilton Hotel, etc., all meet the standards required by both CAF and FIFA.
Oliphant was also delighted that his team was afforded an opportunity to meet with government representative, the Deputy Minister of Sports. He says having met government was a clear sign of reassuring CAF that the government is in support of the NFA, as the NFA would have found it difficult to host the tournament without the support from government.
He also indicated that his inspection team would again visit Namibia sometime in August, “to make sure that all those things that we felt should receive attention have been attended to”.
By Staff Reporter