The national men’s and women’s hockey teams have been forced to withdraw from the upcoming Hockey Africa Cup of Nations after failing to secure the necessary funds for the tournament.

This comes after the continental hockey body, The African Hockey Federation (AfHF), revealed this week that Namibia will no longer compete at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations, set for 11-18 October in Ismailia, Egypt.

Reacting to the development, Namibia Hockey Union (NHU) president Carin Slabbert confirmed that indeed the teams have been withdrawn from this year’s tournament.

She said the decision was made after they had exhausted all the possible avenues to raise funds for the tournament.

“We engaged both the government and the Namibia Sports Commission – but unfortunately, we could not get assurance that funding would be made available in time. The players themselves also tried to raise funds, but it simply wasn’t enough to cover the costs,” she said.

She noted that, although the players made efforts to raise money for the competition, the funds collected fell short.

Earlier this month, Namibia men’s field hockey head coach Johann Weyhe highlighted that the burden was too heavy, as players were expected to finance the tournament themselves.

“It’s a costly exercise, and players will need to pay a participation fee. We do not want anyone left out because of financial constraints, so we are calling on government, stakeholders and sponsors to come on board and assist,” the coach said earlier this month.

The withdrawal of the teams in this year’s tournaments comes as a huge setback for the team, which had been preparing for the continental showpiece and saw the tourney as an opportunity to test themselves against the best on the continent.

This could also have a major impact on both teams’ world ranking.

Namibia’s men’s team were drawn in Group A alongside South Africa and Nigeria, while the women’s side will face a tougher test in Group A against South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.

– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na