Windhoek – If Namibian clubs are to meaningfully compete and leave a serious footprint at various Confederation of African Football (CAF) competitions, the corporate world will need to redouble its input and contribute more sufficiently to the development of local football.
Those were the remarks made by African Stars Executive Director, Solomo Hei, during Friday’s press conference at Football House in the capital, proving feedback on the club’s recent trip to the Comoros Islands, where they partook in the first leg of the 2018/19 CAF African Champions League, which saw them draw 0-0 against Volcan Club Moroni of Comoros.
The second leg is slated for Wednesday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek. For the first leg alone, according to Hei, the club forked out almost N$ 700 000 to ensure that all logistics were fully catered for, but Hei said the costs continue to rise as they head into Wednesday’s second leg.
Hei is, thus, calling upon corporate Namibia to throw its weight behind the club, and assist financially and materially, as competing continentally comes with a budget the size of a whale.
“We are currently engaged with various corporate companies, to whom we have sent proposals. We are also looking at the loyal football brands of FNB and MTC to see if they can assist in anyway. Even though they have already committed to sponsoring the league, I am sure they can still assist us in one way or another. When you are playing in Africa, there is also an element of representing the country. While we are thanking those who are already sponsoring, we are also calling on others to come on board,” said Hei as he revealed that companies such as Metropolitan and Nashua have already responded positively to their plea.
Speaking at the same occasion, Stars mentor, Robert Nauseb, said competing in the CAF African Champions League proves to be the perfect learning curve, both in terms of exposing the players to high level competition and also learning how things are done when hosting visiting teams.
Nauseb said the players struggled with weather conditions in Comoros during the first leg, as the Island is extremely hot and humid.
“They put us on the back foot for the first 20 minutes. We could not open them up but after that, we dominated the game, and we were unfortunate not to get a goal. They take football very seriously, because countries like Cameroon and Morocco went there and failed to win. They only managed to draw, which shows how things have grown,” said Nauseb as he assured that his charges will be ready for Wednesday clash.