Maurice Kambukwe
With other sport codes gearing up to return to action amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the Namibia Basketball Federation (NBF) won’t be resuming with activities any time soon.
The federation has cancelled all planned competitions for 2020.
NBF secretary general Ramah Mumba, during a brief chat with New Era Sport, said they had initially planned to start with their league in March and run until September but all plans had to be annulled as a result of the widespread coronavirus.
Not only the league, but the NBF also resolved to cancel all planned activities for 2020 and rather host next year hopefully when the pandemic is under control.
To try and make up for the lost time, Mumba said the NBF is in the process of planning a mini tournament to be staged towards the end of the year, to accord players an opportunity to flex it out and prepare for early next year.
“We have called off all our activities for this year because of the ongoing widespread Covid-19. We had planned to start our league in March and finish in September, but the virus is showing no signs of slowing down and we can’t risk our athletes. I believe it will be very tough for us to host any events this year. We are however looking at organising a mini tournament at the end of this year, that’s if the situation allows us to host such an event,” added Mumba.
Mumba also lauded the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) for financially and technically supporting their various activities and developmental programmes in regions last year.
Last year, the NBF held various development programmes in the regions, where the federation shared basic skills and knowledge of the game with attendees, and the NSC also greatly assisted when the NBF hosted mini basketball convention, which featured neighbouring countries.
-mkambukwe@nepc.com.na