Brave Warriors set to play in three colour sets

Namibia’s Brave Warriors will have three sets of playing gear during the TotalEnergies Afcon 2023 tournament, which started in Cóte d’Ivoire on Saturday.

Initially, the Namibia Football Association (NFA) decided to procure the team’s official playing gear from South Africa, but the team colours were heavily criticised by the general football public, which on social media platforms questioned the red, green and blue colours on the official playing gear.

In response to the controversy, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and the NFA instructed the Brave Warriors’ technical committee not to make use of the jerseys that attracted public criticism.

NFA acting secretary general Jochen Traut confirmed to The Namibian that instead the national senior men’s team will use three sets of playing gear for the Afcon 2023 tournament.

“The Brave Warriors will now have three different playing sets in red, blue and white,” Traut said.

“The jerseys the Brave Warriors used against Ghana in their international friendly match will not form part of the Afcon gear.”

The new playing gear has an eagle emblem in the front and the area around the neck is colored in green, red, yellow and blue.

In past international competitions, the Brave Warriors had only two official colors, with a red attire set for home matches while white gear was used for away ties.

The Brave Warriors will have their opening match on Tuesday against north African title contenders Tunisia, while their second clash is against foe South Africa’s Bafana Bafana team on 21 January.

Namibia is hoping to make a mark at the 34th edition of the tournament by progressing beyond the group stages for the first time, with a hope of recording the country’s first-ever victory at the African football showdown.