Carlos Kambaekwa
Call him a reactionary or whatever you prefer, but do it at your own peril, at least this dude knows that Soccer House is situated in Katutura and never disputed that Johannes Muinjo is the Commander-in-Chief of domestic football, and neither does the author arrive at any other destination than Ghana when confronted as to where the Brave Warriors will be stationed come January 2008.
So, who says yours truly is not on the same page with some of the BIG oaks – Holla Brrra J! You have my nod for telling those who are shamelessly jumping on the bandwagon where to get off.
Yours truly has on countless occasions sent a word of caution against the sponsors’ somewhat irritating flirtation with the internal affairs of the National Football Association and its affiliates but for some strange reasons the pleas fell on deaf ears.
It goes without saying that some people in positions of authority would go to the length of seeing a treasured commodity such as the Brave Warriors as a vehicle for their commercial purpose without realising the consequences of their egos.
The national football team is a brand and should be treated as such “Finish and Klaar” in real township lingo! – Let us rather play against the giants of Brazil and get roasted or even better, engage Pakistan or India and teach these cricket-crazy nations a trick or two about the finer points of the beautiful game.
Corporate businesses should never be allowed, at whatever cost, to take advantage of the football association’s depleted budget.
After all, if these good Samaritans are all of a sudden so concerned about the Warriors’ welfare, why did they not offer performance incentives for the boys when the team was fighting against all odds staked against them to cement their entry into the 2008 finals of the continental showpiece in Ghana?
Football matters should be left to those in the administration of the game and it was also unbecoming of FNB as sponsors to dictate to the Namibia Premier League as to who should manage the NPL Invitational side in the meaningless hastily arranged midweek match against Civics.
Who are the chief beneficiaries of such a match and what would happen if some of the invited players returned injured to their respective teams – who was going to foot their medical bills should they have suffered career-threatening injuries and did they get remunerated for their appearance?
The Gift that was Never Meant to be When the oldest football club in the country, Tigers, clinched what the game’s pundits thought to be a lucrative business deal with the United Africa Group a few years ago, the club sent tongues wagging with their business acumen in what was then paraded as the biggest ever sponsorship for a club in the history of Namibian sport, or so we thought.
Yours truly happened to be among the selected few at the prestigious sponsorship launch and after the handing over of a massive camouflaged cheque of close to half-a-million dollars – we were led outside and treated to some juicy snacks and a few drinks at the company’s premises in the Northern Industrial area.
After all the customary rituals were concluded, we were greeted by a brand new state-of-the-art 23-seater Mercedes Microbus, proudly displaying the name “United Africa Tigers Football Club” printed in the traditional club’s colours of blue and white.
There was no mention of United Africa just providing transport for the club in the interim, we were led to believe the bus was Tigers’ property and the keys were handed over to team manager, Kelly Asser, who was flanked by some of the team’s old guards and the club’s driver – a chirpy I’ve only known as Kondjeni since our Kamashona days.
Now, I’m told in low-key voices that the marriage between the two parties has cracked and United Africa Group withdrew their sponsorship and has also resolved to offload the wounded Tigers from their luxurious cage on wheels.
However, many questions spring to mind – was there ever any written agreement between the two parties and what were the terms of reference and why was the ownership of the vehicle not transferred to the club, or did both Tigers and United Africa Group deliberately mislead the public through the unsuspecting media?