Communication is vital

THIS week, The Namibian was once again singled out as the ringleader in putting the name of the Brave Warriors to shame through negative reporting.

For your information, the newspaper was blacked out by national team coach Tom Saintfiet, who flatly refused to answer a question about the availability of our Angolan-based internationals for national duty.The coach’s boss, Barry Rukoro, sided with Saintfiet and said the coach has the right to refuse to answer questions posed to him by The Namibian on the basis of the newspaper’s negative reporting on the national team and also for not attending national team matches.Also, the coach claimed that The Namibian tends to write stories based on assumptions and this, in his opinion, exposes the lack of understanding on the part of the journalist of the systems and tactics that he uses when the team is in action.Good and well according to the coach, but The Namibian has so far covered all the Tafel Lager Brave Warriors matches that took place in the country, irrespective of which reporter was assigned to it. Now, what is even more unfortunate is that the question was never addressed and up to now, we don’t know what the position of the selectors is in regard to players in the Angolan league. Are these players eligible for selection or are they not part of the plans? Will they be considered for future matches or they just plain useless to be selected for the national team? I don’t know the answers because I did not get them.The stance by the coach to shut out the newspaper is unfortunate and I am not going to dwell on that much, but from our side, I think it will only be in the interest of football to have a healthy working relationship with the football bosses.But before we come together and sort out the differences, I would like to highlight the following points.1. The Brave Warriors is a national team which belongs to everybody in the country and the NFA and the coach do not own it but just administer, with public funds for that matter.2. It is pointless to prevent the newspaper from obtaining crucial information on the players and the team, because we are just serving as a vehicle of information dissemination to the public. The information is not for the newspaper to keep. 3. If the NFA is not interested in talking to the newspaper, we will by all means try to get the information in other ways for the readers, but at the same time, we will keep our communication channels open and will gladly cover football activities as is the case now. 4. For the football authorities, it will be good for them to know that their plans, ideas and objectives for the team are carried across to the nation via the media and this newspaper is up to it to perform that task.5. It will also be good for the coach to know that the public will better understand his philosophy, system of play, tactical and technical approaches with the team, if he makes use of the media. We are reminded that we are partners in building the game and I still believe we are.And lastly, by now the coach and the football authorities should know that criticism is part of the package in the game of football. This means that credit will be given where it’s due and criticism will be levelled against the team, the coach or whoever is supposed to take the flak, if the team does not do well. Football coaches and administrators worldwide go through this pattern and a classic example of a man who is currently under huge pressure is South African coach Joel Santana. He is handling the pressure and knows that he has a responsibility to his players, his bosses and the public. Both Santana and the South African Football Association (Safa) have so far justified in acceptable terms what they foresee for the team, despite the current storm.They are looking at building a successful side and are positive about the future, despite the constant criticism they take from the media and the public. I commend them for their positive attitude and a high degree of professionalism, because that is their life, and that is life in football.No coach will be lambasted for good results. It simply means that players must deliver to save their coach from being put to the sword.If the coach’s tactics are not effective, they will be questioned, but if good results are coming in, irrespective of the system which is applied, the coach and the players will get the credit. Success is achieved the hard way and once it is attained, it cannot be taken away.corry@namibian.com.na