Carlos Kambaekwa
Shooting From The Hip
Firstly, I would like to wish Brave Warriors’ coach, Ben Bamfuchile, and his Technical staff the best of luck for tomorrow’s crucial African Nations Cup second leg qualifier against the visiting Democratic Republic of Congo at Windhoek’s Indepen-dence stadium.
In last week’s article, yours truly blasted the football authorities’ reaction to players’ demands for their outstanding payment but, like I’ve said so many times in the past, there are certain things that I’m fully in agreement with those in charge at Soccer House.
I fail to digest all the fuss about the NFA’s decision to double the meage N$10 entrance for tomorrow’s august event – surely, the Association is within its rights to charge any fee it deems fit for economic reasons as articulated by the Acting Secretary-General in an Afrikaans daily publication yesterday.
It’s an open secret that the Namibian Football Association is battling financially to keep its head above water, and the squawking small band of critics is a far cry from the realities of modern football.
Tomorrow’s tie is not your ordinary leisure football match on a Sunday afternoon – this is an international clash that has the potential to book Namibia’s flight to Ghana for the next edition of the continental showpiece.
Namibia, as host nation, has the responsibility of taking care of visiting teams which includes accommodation, meals, hiring of practice field, transport to and from the airports with added transport in the form of luxurious cabs for the visiting dignitaries.
On top of these, the four match officials and the Match Commissioner must be taken care of, and remember they are handsomely remunerated in US dollars.
It now appears the Association blundered gravely by charging a mere 10 dollars for the Warriors’ last international against Libya – people need to understand entrance fees are pro rata because they are mostly determined by the popularity and quality of opposition and, above all, the intensity of the outcome.
The DRC boasts players from the world’s richest football league in the mould of Portsmouth’s skillful striker Lomana Lua Lua and Shabani Nonda from Blackburn Rovers, to name but just a few, while the Libyan contingent was laden with a bunch of no-names from the rich but average leagues in the Gulf.
Would the very same armchair critics squeal if the giants of Brazil touched down here for an exhibition match at a modest fee of N$100 per head? I bet my last penny that football fans would gladly fork out that amount without shedding an ounce of sweat.
I would like to make a humble plea to the nation to fill the Independence Stadium to its rafters and create a Carnival atmosphere for tomorrow’s tie – the boys need our support.
Namibian Cricket Going to The Dogs
Love him or hate him at your own peril, yours truly has always bemoaned the tortoise-paced transformation in some of our sport disciplines, and the Namibian Cricket Eleven’s failure to qualify for the next World Cup finals bears testimony to the suspicion that something was amiss in domestic cricket.
With the exception of injury-prone Burton van Rooi, no player of colour really emerged from the much-hyped Development blueprint of Cricket Namibia, with the result that this particular discipline is still lily white with no players of colour coming through the ranks of these meaningless development structures.
I’ve been following with keen interest the recently concluded Afro-Asia Cup in India, and I must express my disappointment at not seeing a single cricketer from Namibia representing the African continent, while other leading cricket-playing nations such as South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya were fully represented.
Namibian cricket has been paying too much lip service on development and transformation with very little progress made on the playing grounds and, unless something drastic is done to stem the current scenario, the game of cricket will go to the dogs.
I rest my case – at least for the time being.