THE Namibia Annual Sports Expo was launched in Windhoek yesterday with calls for the professionalisation of sport and investment in Namibia’s sporting youth to help unveil future stars.
The minister of sport, Agnes Tjongarero said that Namibia had made great strides in international sport, but that it was of cardinal importance to aspire to establish professional sport in the country. In this regard, she called on the private sector to invest more in Namibia’s budding sporting stars.
“Recently, after the excellent showing of Team Namibia at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the private sector showed their willingness, to part with their hard earned monies. In this regard, I call upon the very same people who were eager to get on the bandwagon of Namibian sporting excellence, to now avail similar funding for sport development in the country,” she said.
“I call upon you to come on board so that we can together, unearth the country’ sporting gems earlier, so that together we can ensure greater sporting prospects to Namibian athletes. Indeed, sport is growing in Namibia and offers a unique opportunity into the untapped potential that is Namibian sport. Together, we can do so much more, to ensure that the long dream of professionalizing sport becomes a reality,” she added.
Tjongarero said this year’s Sport Expo will be hosted digitally and will advocate for the prioritisation of sport to be considered as one of the major drivers of economic development.
“In this regard, we draw the nation’s attention to the upswell and outpouring of national pride after Team Namibia exploits at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Additionally, the goodwill exhibited by the private sector in the amount of pledges made to the victorious athletes, truly captures the potential of sport in the country, both as a driver of economic development and as a vehicle of unification. Sport has the power not only to unite a nation, but a heightened propensity to create a trickle-down effect and stimulate national development.”
Tjongarero noted that the Namibian economy was losing about N$2 million per match due to the national football team having to play its home matches in neighbouring South Africa, since local facilities do not meet international standards, and called on the private sector to assist in this regard.
“It is in the best interest of everybody, for the nation to pull together and ensure that our facilities can be upgraded to fulfil the expected standards, thus my call again to the private sector to come on board, and invest in sport.”
The director of the Sport Expo, Tjeripo Musutua of the Namibia Sport Commission said they had approached their corporate partners to assist them in hosting a digital sport expo.
“From tomorrow we will have interviews with all the sport federations, who will share their stories on development, what they have been doing and what their future plans are. Then from the 20th of September we will start to air it on NBC and in the papers and social media platforms of New Era and Namibia Media Holdings. They have great stories to tell and we must share that,” he said.
The chief administrator of the NSC, Freddy Mwiya said they had also finalised a national policy document on national colours which will come into effect on 9 November.
“We spent a lot of time on the document and it will come into effect on 9 November, when we will have a uniform dress code for all Namibian teams,” he said.
