When I perused through the lengthy but well-crafted Fifa letter addressed to embattled Namibia Football Association (NFA) secretary general Franco Cosmos on Wednesday, 30 March 2022, I immediately knew that a new dawn was definitely on the horizon, and nothing could stop the winds of change blowing across Namibian football.

The Fifa letter sent to Cosmos late Wednesday announced the appointment of a new normalisation committee for the NFA. The new committee will be taking over the powers of the FA’s executive committee, and also monitor the daily functions of the secretariat.

The new normalisation committee will be led by Bisey Uirab as chairperson and Afra Schimming-Chase as the deputy chairperson, while Willy Mertens, Esmeralda Katjaerua and Dina Shituula will be serving as additional members.

The NFA has been operating without an executive committee after it was callously expelled at a somewhat erroneously-constituted gathering some months ago. 

The expulsion of the executive committee, whose functions were to oversee the policy and strategic direction of the FA, left creepy room for the association’s secretariat to freely operate in a vacuum, and that somehow cast a huge dark cloud over the governance and financial standing of the besieged federation. 

Fifa’s latest decision to appoint a new normalisation committee for Namibian football, as many of us had demanded on multiple occasions and in many of my writings, was coming. It had to come, and it’s here now.

It’s not that many Namibians, myself included, are proud to have our football affairs and future always being dictated by Fifa, but the situation was deteriorating and becoming toxic, and movements towards progressively resolving unceasing infights between football administrators was heading to zero.

Someone, somewhere had to do something to urgently address the tumbledown plight of our stranded footballers, who have not kicked a ball or earned a living for years due to embarrassing boardroom politics.

Yours truly, on numerous occasions in this esteemed column, strongly and fearlessly warned about the increasing and dangerous influence of an uninvited third force called the Progressive Forces at Football House in Katutura. 

On all those occasions, I cautioned that with the continued unchecked and illegitimate presence of the Progressive Forces within Football House corridors, the veracity and credibility of the NFA was at stake, and the association would soon become a cheap meal for stray dogs. 

But guess what? I was called a tribalist, a sell-out and a weak journalist who was in it to advance an anti-NFA agenda. What a shame! 

But despite the countless insults that were hurled at me by misguided elements within the regressive Progressive Forces, I’m happy that Fifa’s letter and its latest decision has fully vindicated my moral and cognitive posture on this crucial matter. 

As things currently stand, especially when judging from Fifa’s wording and attitude in Wednesday’s letter, I can confidently and happily say it is the end of the road for the mafia-like Progressive Forces, and the time is now for patriotic and football-loving Namibians to regroup and chart a new path for our football and players. 

No amount of strategising and backbiting by the Progressive Forces can rescue them from the slippery slope journey they find themselves on. Fifa has accorded Namibians another window of opportunity to reclaim their game, and not even the soon-to-be expired Progressive Forces will stop that. 

As a parting shot, allow me to take a cue from the Bible, specifically from the words of Psalm 118:24 ESV, which reads as follows: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”. 

And I say, 30 March 2022, is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. 

Until next time, sharp, sharp!!