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Warriors soar amid pandemic, war zone tag

2021-01-12  Maurice Kambukwe

Warriors soar amid pandemic, war zone tag

The Brave Warriors are preparing for the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals to be held in Cameroon and captain Dynamo Fredericks says the team’s spirit and tempo have been high since their return from the coastal town of Walvis Bay, despite the infiltration of Covid-19.

Fredericks says the team has been pushing towards getting fit both physically and mentally to assure that their trip to Cameroon for the African Nations Championship (CHAN) is a memorable one.

“I have been pushing the boys to keep working hard and not despair because of the others who tested positive. I also constantly call the ones in isolation to motivate and encourage them to have faith and work towards fully recovering because we are all waiting for their return,” he said. 
CHAN competition kicks off on 16 January, with the finals to be played on 7 February 2021 in Cameroon. Namibia’s first match is against Guinea on 19 January 2021 at the Limbe Omnisport Stadium and then take on Tanzania and finish against rivals Zambia in Group D.

As the finals draw closer, Fredericks insists the Brave Warriors as a collective are ready.
“We are going to CHAN not to participate but to compete against the best, so we will go play to the best of our abilities to make the nation proud.”

Fredericks urge fellow Namibians to adhere to Covid-19 regulations, practice social distancing and wear their masks at all times in order to combat the spread of Covid-19.

‘War zone’
Meanwhile, the Namibia Football Association is adamant the tournament will continue as planned despite an advisory issued last week by Larry Ayamba who is the Ambazonia Governing Council foreign affairs secretary in Cameroon.
In a letter to CAF and Fifa, Ayamba cautioned about the dangerous situation on the ground, saying the area in which the CHAN finals are scheduled is not fit to host the tournament due to political instability.

Regardless of the political unrest in the City of Limbe Cameroon, which will play host to upcoming African Nations Championship (CHAN) Group D, where the Brave Warriors are pitted alongside Tanzania, Guinea, and Zambia, the Namibia Football Association (NFA) has said they will proceed unless they get another directive from the tournament’s organising committee. “We are writing to you concerning the planned organization of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) to be hosted by La République du Cameroun from Jan 16 - Feb 7, 2021,” Ayamba wrote last week. “We are aware that some of the teams, notably in Pool D, consisting of Zambia, Guinea, Namibia, and Tanzania have been scheduled to play on the territory of the former Southern Cameroons under British Administration, now named, Ambazonia. I am by this letter drawing your attention, that of Fifa and CAF, of all teams hitherto scheduled to play in Limbe, and of all potential spectators: that the entire territory of Ambazonia, including Limbe, is a war zone and not conducive for any international match at this time.”

Ayamba strongly advised CAF to terminate any plan to play matches in Limbe or host any team anywhere in the territory of Ambazonia.
Approached for comment, NFA secretary general Franco Cosmos said that the team will proceed and go on as per arrangements made by the tournament’s organising committee. 

“The tournament’s organising committee did not tell us anything, we will just go as the way it is indicated by the bodies responsible for this tournament. Unless we receive something different from the organising committee that is when we are likely to know what the next option is. So far, the safety of our players is in the hands of the organising committee,” he said.
-NFA.org
-Additional reporting by Maurice Kambukwe


2021-01-12  Maurice Kambukwe

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