Maurice Kambukwe
Hesron Kapanga
Two second-half goals secured African Stars’ victory over Orlando Pirates, crowning them champions of the Debmarine Namibia Premier League for the second consecutive year.
Willy ‘Awillo’ Stephanus and Salazar Ngunzu scored in the second half, which enabled their club to finish the league with a total of 64 points from 30 matches. They are followed by Ongos FC with 61 points, and Khomas Nampol with 59 points.
Speaking after Saturday’s match, Stars coach Ronnie Kanalelo expressed his excitement, describing the win as a massive achievement for him and the entire team.
He emphasised that the work does not end, as they will now shift their focus to other competitions such as the upcoming PstBet Namibia Football Association (NFA) Cup and the Caf Champions League.
“I joined the team halfway through the league, and I was tasked with the mission to win the league, which is exactly what we accomplished. I am proud of the boys, but our job is not finished.
“We are now shifting our focus to the NFA Cup and setting our sights on the Champions League, which is a significant goal for the club this year,” he said.
At the end of the match, the NFA organised a ceremony to crown the champions, but this joyous moment was interrupted, by scenes of the champion supporters who also wanted a piece of history, as they posed for pictures with the trophy, causing chaos during the awarding ceremony. A disappointed Stars' chairperson Salomo Hei said they are happy to have retained the trophy after a gruelling season, but the award ceremony leaves a lot to be desired.
“The first thing we noticed when on stage is there were no medals. Last year, when we were crowned champions, it was done by the Fifa Normalisation Committee (NC), and things moved smoothly. We had a team picture, but as I speak today, we don’t have any team pictures of being crowned champions because supporters were everywhere on the football field,” he said. Hei added that the security detail at the field was not up to standard, as people were unaware of who was doing what and when.
“One of the things I noticed is we did not know who was going to give the cheques and the trophy. The NC did things much better because we can go back to that award ceremony, and show you photos and how supporters were organised to be in the stands,” Hei said, adding that they would have wanted things to be run better.
The Stars' chairperson also said players were asking for medals and there were no medals. Therefore, it is essential to allow the league to run its affairs independently so that those in the office of the NFA can focus on other matters.
“The current football leaders are doing their utmost best to see football played in the country, which times makes work too much for them. It’s important to allow the league to be an independent body doing its administration,” he said. He also stated that not having the NFA president at the crowning ceremony allows for these small things to happen because the head of the house is not around.
-mkambukwe@nepc.com.na