From the side line

NAMIBIAN football authorities can consider themselves extremely fortunate to see millions of dollars poured into the game by the Namibia Football Consortium. The N$40 million investment is the single biggest investment so far by the local companies and football in the country has no excuse not to flourish with this investment.

The commitment to financially sustain football by the consortium of companies involving MTC, FNB and NBL has been hailed as phenomenal and for the Namibia Football Association, it is of course one of the best deals they could ever pull off. But for many other sport codes in the country, this type of investment will only remain a dream.Hockey is one code for example which dreams of setting up an Astro turf to conform to international standards, while it will also be a big boost for players to perform better, especially when facing foreign opposition.Boxing is another code that heavily depends on Government funding and judging by the growth of the sport and the actual performance of the boxers, this code needs to have adequate funding to reach greater heights.In fact, boxing and hockey have never been put under any investigation for either financial irregularities or any mismanagement by the ones in power.It is rather strange that codes that are well administered never have the funds to realise their many obligations.Other bigger codes such as rugby and athletics have been on the receiving end of thousands of dollars for the advancement of their respective disciplines, but somehow things started falling apart, especially with the leadership that is in charge in both instances.At this stage, these two codes (athletics and rugby) have been put under the microscope by the Namibia Sport Commission and it is time that the ones in leadership positions take the onus upon themselves and start cleaning up or take the honourable route of stepping down voluntarily.Football has never been as clean as it should be despite the millions of dollars it receives both from Government, the private sector and international football organisations.It appears that this season and hopefully for the next five years, the consortium will ensure that football moves in a positive direction.Namibian football fans have heard enough excuses from the authorities for the poor performance of the national teams and the lack of money to develop football, etcetera, etcetera.Now the money is available and has been cleverly earmarked for each segment of the game.What needs to happen now is winning national teams, a smooth-running premiership, first division and second division.But before the national teams can win, a coach needs to be appointed a soon as possible.Talk is that funding to pay this man needs to be sourced from Government as in the past, but time is running out, gentlemen.The Cosafa Castle Cup is around the corner, or is it that Max Johnson will once again be given the chance? The next thing needed is a transparent, competent and professional NFA administration.I hope the Secretary General, Alpheus Gaweseb, takes note of this.A well-planned football development structure by technical director Seth Boois will be key to the future of the game in the country.Although Boois has drawn up a structure for all the regions in the country on how the game would be developed from the youth level, it will be important to have a smooth implementation process, while continuity and consistency should serve as the benchmarks.Both the NFA and the NFC need to launch an aggressive marketing campaign to win back the lost interest of many football supporters.This should be done for both the national and club level.And lastly, the players, clubs, coaches and administrators in all the leagues should avoid at all costs bringing the game into disrepute with unnecessary complaints that affects the game negatively.I support president Petrus Damaseb, who said that the NFA would take on any of the troublemakers this season.Teams, especially in the premiership, should show the urgency to move into a professional status by firstly dishing out quality football, while the management should show more accountability and professionalism in running their teams.But for many other sport codes in the country, this type of investment will only remain a dream.Hockey is one code for example which dreams of setting up an Astro turf to conform to international standards, while it will also be a big boost for players to perform better, especially when facing foreign opposition.Boxing is another code that heavily depends on Government funding and judging by the growth of the sport and the actual performance of the boxers, this code needs to have adequate funding to reach greater heights.In fact, boxing and hockey have never been put under any investigation for either financial irregularities or any mismanagement by the ones in power.It is rather strange that codes that are well administered never have the funds to realise their many obligations.Other bigger codes such as rugby and athletics have been on the receiving end of thousands of dollars for the advancement of their respective disciplines, but somehow things started falling apart, especially with the leadership that is in charge in both instances.At this stage, these two codes (athletics and rugby) have been put under the microscope by the Namibia Sport Commission and it is time that the ones in leadership positions take the onus upon themselves and start cleaning up or take the honourable route of stepping down voluntarily.Football has never been as clean as it should be despite the millions of dollars it receives both from Government, the private sector and international football organisations.It appears that this season and hopefully for the next five years, the consortium will ensure that football moves in a positive direction.Namibian football fans have heard enough excuses from the authorities for the poor performance of the national teams and the lack of money to develop football, etcetera, etcetera.Now the money is available and has been cleverly earmarked for each segment of the game.What needs to happen now is winning national teams, a smooth-running premiership, first division and second division.But before the national teams can win, a coach needs to be appointed a soon as possible.Talk is that funding to pay this man needs to be sourced from Government as in the past, but time is running out, gentlemen.The Cosafa Castle Cup is around the corner, or is it that Max Johnson will once again be given the chance? The next thing needed is a transparent, competent and professional NFA administration.I hope the Secretary General, Alpheus Gaweseb, takes note of this.A well-planned football development structure by technical director Seth Boois will be key to the future of the game in the country.Although Boois has drawn up a structure for all the regions in the country on how the game would be developed from the youth level, it will be important to have a smooth implementation process, while continuity and consistency should serve as the benchmarks.Both the NFA and the NFC need to launch an aggressive marketing campaign to win back the lost interest of many football supporters.This should be done for both the national and club level.And lastly, the players, clubs, coaches and administrators in all the leagues should avoid at all costs bringing the game into disrepute with unnecessary complaints that affects the game negatively.I support president Petrus Damaseb, who said that the NFA would take on any of the troublemakers this season.Teams, especially in the premiership, should show the urgency to move into a professional status by firstly dishing out quality football, while the management should show more accountability and professionalism in running their teams.