The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is awaiting CAF’s guidance after receiving Unam FC’s request to compete in the 2026 CAF Confederation Cup.
The development follows the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) decision to extend the club licensing deadline from 30 June to 25 July, a move that potentially gives Unam FC enough time to complete the required licensing process after winning the NFA Cup.
Speaking to Desert FM, NFA general secretary Mabos Vries confirms that the association has formally received the request from the university side.
“Yes, I can confirm that we received the request from Unam,” Vries says.
The current situation stems from the fact that Namibia’s two CAF club competition slots were already provisionally allocated before the conclusion of the NFA Cup.
African Stars had been confirmed as Namibia’s league champions and were subsequently nominated for continental competition within CAF’s original deadlines.
According to Vries, the NFA opted to nominate the league runners-up for the CAF Confederation Cup to avoid losing Namibia’s second continental slot, as the NFA Cup final was only concluded on 30 June.
“We made a submission to CAF to approve the second team based on sporting merit to partake in the confederation cup,” he says.
However, following Unam FC’s NFA Cup triumph and CAF’s extension of the licensing deadline, the club has now formally requested to be considered for the confederation cup place.
The NFA has since sought clarification from CAF on whether the deadline extension allows for new nominations or only applies to clubs that had already been admitted into the licensing process.
“For now, after we received their request as champions of the NFA Cup, we wrote to CAF to guide us,” Vries says.
He says the matter ultimately lies in CAF’s hands.
“As I said, the competition belongs to CAF and CAF has approved our submission. It’s only the CAF who can give us directives on what should be done next.”
Vries says the NFA has already followed up with CAF, emphasizing the urgency of the matter as the deadline approaches.
“We submitted it last week, and we even wrote a follow-up letter to CAF for their prompt reply on that matter. It became urgent because days are running out,” he says.
Should CAF allow Unam FC to proceed, the club would still need to satisfy CAF’s licensing requirements, which include governance, infrastructure, legal and administrative criteria among other key pillars.
For now, football supporters will have to wait for CAF’s response before knowing whether Unam FC’s Confederation Cup hopes remain alive.
“All I can say is just be patient. Once we receive the communication from CAF, then we will share and make it public,” Vries says.
The outcome is expected to be closely watched across the Namibian football fraternity, as it could determine not only Unam FC’s continental ambitions but also how future qualification disputes are handled.
