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Home / Fragmented local sport sector pains Mootu…calls for increased budget

Fragmented local sport sector pains Mootu…calls for increased budget

2022-04-22  Otniel Hembapu

Fragmented local sport sector pains Mootu…calls for increased budget

Youthful Landless People’s Movement parliamentarian Utaara Mootu this week expressed concern with the spiralling social ills that are impeding the growth of local sports.

She said obstacles such as poor funding, lack of infrastructure and outright incompetence needs to be nipped in the bud for development to prevail.

Mootu, also a renowned youth activist, made these striking observations during her contribution to the sports ministry’s 2022/23 budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, where she called on the line ministry and government by extension to do more to revive the ailing fortunes of Namibian sports.

She particularly pinpointed the importance of appointing competent people to crucial positions, the intervention of government and prioritised investment in local sports as the three main ingredients that will help propel the dreams of local athletes to greater heights.

“Currently, we have a crisis in the sports industry, particularly in the football industry. Around 2019, we had a premier league that was employing about 600 active players across all regions. When the league stopped, a lot of our players were left unemployed in the streets, depressed and with no choice but to turn to alcohol and other drugs. We need to ensure that we bring premier league football back, bring this lucrative industry back so that we also capitalise on it to start contributing to the country’s GDP, as is the case in other countries. We also have the issue of the Namibia Football Association (NFA), which has not been paying its athletes and that needs to be addressed. Look at our women’s soccer team, they go out and proudly represent us all, but there are allegations that they are still not paid for their services,” said Mootu.

She also touched on the worrying issue of dilapidated stadiums, which have all been banned by Fifa and Caf for international use – a situation that has forced Namibia’s national teams to play their international matches in South Africa. 

“Another issue is the N$50 million budget allocation for the construction and upgrading of the Independence Stadium. We now have upcoming qualifiers for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) and the stadiums are not ready for use. That means we have to play our upcoming matches outside the country again. In fact, it is estimated that the NFA uses between N$1 million to N$2 million per match to rent stadiums in South Africa. That’s a lot of money and is costing us as a nation. Let’s find ways to intervene and save that money, so that it is redirected to other areas of need,” she pleaded.

- ohembapu@nepc.com.na


2022-04-22  Otniel Hembapu

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