Kefas Shipi Elago
OSHAKATI – The country’s northern football fraternity suffered a massive blow following the relegation
of Young Chiefs FC from Namibia’s top-tier league, MTC Namibia Premier League (NPL), last weekend.
The situation has prompted former Brave Warriors striker and current Young Chiefs mentor Fillemon Cascas Angula
to plea with football stakeholders in that neck of the wood to put aside unwanted football politics
and focus on strengthening football in that area.
Angula believes that there is abundant talent scattered around in the northern part of the country,
but such talent remains untapped due to ongoing infightings that exist in the vast Oshana , Omusati
,Ohangwena and Oshikoto regions. “I have been talking about this issue for quite a long time now that local
teams within the northern area and local stakeholders should throw their weight behind any northern team
that is promoted to the Premier League, but we still encounter problems of teams refusing to allow their
players to Young Chiefs due to traditional football rivalries that still do exist,” said a disgruntled Angula.
He further cautioned that the northern community should learn from the ordeal of Oshakati City FC, a club
that was once a power house in this northern part of the country, but football politics and infightings contributed
to the club’s demise and has since never made a return to top-tier football.
“Football is in a critical condition here in the north and I would like to urge former footballers, the business community, current players, team managers and sport officers to come together and help map out the way forward
for football in the north,” pleaded Angula. However, a section of supporters believe Young Chiefs managerial crisis is the cradle for their downfall and that they should hold themselves accountable for causing havoc among
players and coaching staff, as that led to their relegation from the Premier League.