YOURS truly has been following with keen interest and curiosity and on a more serious note – a certain measure of suspicion, the ongoing shenanigans among local football clubs.
Without beating about the bush, the annoying fashion in which many local business moguls take over football clubs campaigning in our topflight league with the apparent aim to make massive investments into the seemingly permanently cash-strapped teams is in many cases, no more than an empty gesture. My personal observation is that many a football club tends to relax and take a back seat whenever these blokes come on board with lots of promises. Now, the fundamental question that has remained unanswered for many football followers is from whom these newly-found financial backers buy the clubs in the first place and what are they after? I’m just asking.
Football clubs belong to communities, depending on their location and football fans normally associate themselves with their favourite teams on the basis of provincial affinity and moreover, loyalty influenced by historical sentiments. As soon as a football club is taken over by some oke with deep pockets, long serving club administrators take a back seat or worse still, they are deliberately sidelined to make room for the newcomers. While we should genuinely and wholeheartedly applaud those few business moguls who come into the game of football to take the beautiful game to the next level in terms of professionalism – it should be taken into consideration that these are clubs with rich traditions and proud heritages and histories that dwarf even the new owners.
The unwritten rule is that in any kind of instance, be it political, commercial or social – there are traditions that need to be observed at all times and sports entities, in particular football clubs, are no exception to this rule. Money is the root of all evil according to an age old adage, and yours truly has come to learn that players of certain clubs are left completely at the mercy of club owners when it comes down to their monthly salaries and in the event of these owners not being around at month-end or occupied by other things – the poor players are made to wait for ages to receive their meagre monthly salaries. The stark truth is that these are individuals with important responsibilities like everyone else and the fact that they should be made to beg for what is rightfully theirs is demeaning and highly offensive. Give to Caesar what is due to him, Period!
Of course, as always the devil is in the details when it comes to such situations. Players might be tempted to throw matches given their ability to influence the outcome of results, they might even decide to make themselves a bit of extra moolah just to keep afloat, while waiting for Godot! Surely, local football clubs must become self-sustaining and not depend entirely on the free lunch from their financial backers, including the quarterly grant from the principal sponsor of the Namibia Premier League, MTC. As it stands, it appears that operational funds from the sponsors are redirected straightaway to the playing personnel’s monthly remunerations. This ugly practice could have serious repercussions in the final analysis and has the potential to derail the smooth operations of the clubs. Quite frankly, clubs have become lazy and don’t even bother to go the extra mile in terms of marketing their products, let alone advertise their upcoming games. The absence of any hype, not even placards, radio announcements, television appearances and other media engagements are so typical of the football scene in this country that it makes one cringe in embarassment. The visit of the Taifa Stars from Tanzania is a case in point. Like many other international visitors, they will ‘steal’ into the country, perform to a virtually empty stadium and ‘dissapear’ as if they were never here at all! How pathetic! The same goes for domestic league matches of course. Truth be told sponsors are not getting the maximum mileage for their investment and this is exactly where yours truly feels obliged to ask the burning and generally disliked question. What would Namibian football be without African Stars? I rest my case.