Namibia Football Association (NFA) secretary general Jochen Traut, while welcoming Namibians betting on local premier league games, has acknowledged that there is currently no system in place to monitor possible match-fixing, including by players.
He says an awareness campaign needs to be created “to appeal to the ethics of the players, referees and club owners to avoid any wrongdoing and the consequences of it”.
“A player can bet on a match using their child and then how can you tell whether it was the player or not? It’s a difficult one. We will have to see how it develops in future,” Traut said to Desert Radio last week.
He was reacting to online sports betting company PstBet adding Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) games to its betting opportunities. This has enabled punters to gamble on the results of local premier league games over the past weeks.
Lolo Goraseb, the former president of the now defunct Namibia Football Players Union, said: “There is no dispute resolution chamber; there is no mechanism in place that will address the risk of match-fixing. It’s concerning and a high risk. I don’t even know how PstBet has received authorisation to put the premier league on their betting cycle … I’m really concerned and worried about this development.”
Asked whether or not players are vulnerable to bribery, he said: “Absolutely, because they have not been considered and there are not structures in place to address it, we have had such allegations before and if the structures and mechanisms of our federation are not in place, it’s like a wild west style of managing football.”
Also speaking to Desert Radio last week, PstBet chief executive and founder Steve Hamunyela, when asked about where his company got authorisation said: “Do I need an authorisation?”
He said he believes having people betting on the league will increase interest and help it grow.
“We are trying to help our league to be strong. It can only happen if people are following it and one can only follow once they are getting something out of it,” he said.
Traut also said betting on premier league matches would bring increased attention to the local game.
“It creates awareness and enthusiasm for the league. In a way it’s a good thing, it’s really something that can help promote football in Namibia,” he added.
PstBet is sponsoring football and boxing to the tune of millions, including the Governor’s Cup, which is used to select teams to battle for honours at The Namibian Newspaper Cup, the pre-eminent youth sport tournament in the country.
They are also sponsoring MTC Sunshine Boxing and Fitness Academy and the University of Namibia Campuses Annual Sports Tournament, which includes football, netball and volleyball, for five years.
When PstBet announced its sponsorship for Civics Football Club in 2021, Hamunyela was asked how they will navigate match-fixing.
At the time, he responded by saying that they would not add local football matches to their system.
However, Hamunyela explained the U-turn by saying: “Our position hasn’t really changed, what we have done is to put up all the 11 fixtures for people to bet on and it’s very difficult for someone to fix all 11 matches.”
PstBet currently has about 150 000 active users on their online platform.
DARK SIDE
Sports betting is harmless fun for most people. However, it can become a destructive addiction for those who lose control.
In June, The Namibian reported on the dark side of sports betting.
In the field of behavioural finance, researchers have found the pain of losing money is greater than the pleasure experienced when gaining the same amount.
Clinical psychologist Cynthia Beukes of Saffron Psychologists said at the time this often leads gamblers to “chase their losses” by doubling bets to quickly make up for previous losses.
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