From the Sidelines

FINALLY, the Namibia Sport Commission (NSC) is showing its teeth.This indeed is what has been expected from this body for years, but a lack of tough, no-nonsense and competent commissioners was a disadvantage for the body for some time, which saw sport codes having Christmas almost every day.

Christmas is now over for some of the codes that thought they could continue to twist and manipulate the rules of the commission. It is truly encouraging to see that the commission is now in the process of pulling out all the stops to fast-track the lack of professionalism, accountability and visionary leadership in key sports codes in the country.The codes, regarded as the big four, that are currently under close scrutiny by the commission are football, rugby, netball and athletics.The Minister of Sport, John Mutorwa, is in the meantime also keeping a close watch on these codes, as his office will be expected to take crucial decisions that will see especially netball and rugby change for good.With the appointment of Rusten Mogane to head the NSC a few months ago, as well as a new set of commissioners who joined the fray attempting turn the tables in the often-controversial state of affairs in various sport codes, the body is clearly heading in the right direction.They can only be doing better if they are consistent and stick by their decisions according to the law.The commission is the ultimate yardstick for Namibian sport and should be regarded as such, and in turn it should maintain high standards without favour.The biggest evil in these ‘big four’ codes revolves around poor administration, lack of accounting for finances and a total disregard for rules and regulations.The commission, with the office of the minister, should surely make a good example of these codes for the others not to fall into the same trap.It is really unacceptable for codes such as athletics and football to fail to submit their financial and progress reports in time.Mind you, football gets N$3,5 million each year from Government.On top of that, the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) has been pumping thousands of dollars into the game over the past five years, and still these administrators can simply not compile the reports despite having these high-profile auditing firms doing the job for them.The football bosses have now apportioned the blame to an auditing firm, which they say has not finalised their reports yet.What have they been doing all the time before the deadline and are the auditing firms really satisfied with the books they have to audit? Athletics is in the same boat.They are an A code like football, but their leadership is in absolute shambles and they too have not submitted their financial and progress reports as required by law.It is sad that the athletes have to suffer as a result.The netball administrators on their part do not have a functional executive and no one knows who does what.The game has hit the lowest of levels ever since the glory days in the 90s.Rugby has a leadership that is reluctant to listen to the people who make it function as a union – the players.The players and the executive members, headed by the union’s controversial president Dirk Conradie, are embroiled in an endless fight over various issues spanning from the 2003 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, and no one realises that the game is losing popularity.The commission now has the opportunity to prove itself and it should not only show teeth, but take a bite out of these codes to push them to get their houses in order.It is really undesirable for administrators of these big codes not to be exemplary to smaller codes, which are in fact trying to make ends meet as they do not have huge sponsorship deals such as football.No wonder these smaller codes have better records when competing on the international scene.Codes such as hockey, boxing, karate and swimming are making inroads into the international arena by yielding the required results despite having limited financial resources compared to the bigger codes.The biggest codes should actually regard themselves as a disgrace on the international scene.Namibia last played a competitive international football match against Botswana in a Cosafa Castle Cup final in April, which they lost on penalties.Since then, no matches have been in the offing for the various national football sides.The under-17, -20 and -23 sides have since ceased their participation in international matches.A selected Namibian rugby side, which in fact did not have all the key players, played their last international match in June and got a humiliating cricket score against the Blue Bulls in Windhoek.Netball has not come near any international fixture for over five years now and it is a painful reality for the players who want to put their best foot forward in this sport.Athletics Namibia has spent thousands of dollars to compete at regional events, but results have been poor as the structures to groom athletes are basically not in place.The commission should by now have assessed whether the money pumped into these big codes has paid off, as they have not genuinely demonstrated their desire to keep the Namibian flag flying high.Some of these administrators have simply thrown the objective of working in the interest of the game out of the window and the commission has to ensure that this does not continue.Now is the time for taking action and getting the big codes to be more responsible and set an example, as they currently simply don’t live up to expectations.It is truly encouraging to see that the commission is now in the process of pulling out all the stops to fast-track the lack of professionalism, accountability and visionary leadership in key sports codes in the country.The codes, regarded as the big four, that are currently under close scrutiny by the commission are football, rugby, netball and athletics.The Minister of Sport, John Mutorwa, is in the meantime also keeping a close watch on these codes, as his office will be expected to take crucial decisions that will see especially netball and rugby change for good.With the appointment of Rusten Mogane to head the NSC a few months ago, as well as a new set of commissioners who joined the fray attempting turn the tables in the often-controversial state of affairs in various sport codes, the body is clearly heading in the right direction.They can only be doing better if they are consistent and stick by their decisions according to the law.The commission is the ultimate yardstick for Namibian sport and should be regarded as such, and in turn it should maintain high standards without favour.The biggest evil in these ‘big four’ codes revolves around poor administration, lack of accounting for finances and a total disregard for rules and regulations.The commission, with the office of the minister, should surely make a good example of these codes for the others not to fall into the same trap.It is really unacceptable for codes such as athletics and football to fail to submit their financial and progress reports in time.Mind you, football gets N$3,5 million each year from Government.On top of that, the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) has been pumping thousands of dollars into the game over the past five years, and still these administrators can simply not compile the reports despite having these high-profile auditing firms doing the job for them.The football bosses have now apportioned the blame to an auditing firm, which they say has not finalised their reports yet.What have they been doing all the time before the deadline and are the auditing firms really satisfied with the books they have to audit? Athletics is in the same boat.They are an A code like football, but their leadership is in absolute shambles and they too have not submitted their financial and progress reports as required by law.It is sad that the athletes have to suffer as a result.The netball administrators on their part do not have a functional executive and no one knows who does what.The game has hit the lowest of levels ever since the glory days in the 90s.Rugby has a leadership that is reluctant to list
en to the people who make it function as a union – the players.The players and the executive members, headed by the union’s controversial president Dirk Conradie, are embroiled in an endless fight over various issues spanning from the 2003 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, and no one realises that the game is losing popularity.The commission now has the opportunity to prove itself and it should not only show teeth, but take a bite out of these codes to push them to get their houses in order.It is really undesirable for administrators of these big codes not to be exemplary to smaller codes, which are in fact trying to make ends meet as they do not have huge sponsorship deals such as football.No wonder these smaller codes have better records when competing on the international scene.Codes such as hockey, boxing, karate and swimming are making inroads into the international arena by yielding the required results despite having limited financial resources compared to the bigger codes.The biggest codes should actually regard themselves as a disgrace on the international scene.Namibia last played a competitive international football match against Botswana in a Cosafa Castle Cup final in April, which they lost on penalties.Since then, no matches have been in the offing for the various national football sides.The under-17, -20 and -23 sides have since ceased their participation in international matches.A selected Namibian rugby side, which in fact did not have all the key players, played their last international match in June and got a humiliating cricket score against the Blue Bulls in Windhoek.Netball has not come near any international fixture for over five years now and it is a painful reality for the players who want to put their best foot forward in this sport.Athletics Namibia has spent thousands of dollars to compete at regional events, but results have been poor as the structures to groom athletes are basically not in place.The commission should by now have assessed whether the money pumped into these big codes has paid off, as they have not genuinely demonstrated their desire to keep the Namibian flag flying high.Some of these administrators have simply thrown the objective of working in the interest of the game out of the window and the commission has to ensure that this does not continue.Now is the time for taking action and getting the big codes to be more responsible and set an example, as they currently simply don’t live up to expectations.