German football chiefs expected in Namibia

NAMIBIA Football Association president John Muinjo says the Deutscher Fussball Bund (DFB) has accepted an invitation by the NFA for bilateral talks, which will culminate in re-activating cooperation agreements and training camps in Germany for Namibian national teams.

Muinjo told The Namibian Sport that technical assistance and football development, as well as the possibility of getting the German national team to Namibia in the future, will be among the discussion points. He said Horst Schmidt, the secretary general of that association, will lead a delegation to Namibia, arriving in Windhoek on Saturday.Recently, a member of the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) responsible for international projects, Johan Van Geijn, visited Namibia on invitation to check out conditions in the country as well as other aspects that he has to report on before projects and agreements could be negotiated, said Muinjo.”Other football associations will be officially invited during the draw of the World Cup in November.The NFA wants as early as possible to engage in lobbying those football nations to the country,” he said.Muinjo added: ”It might be potentially very difficult to convince these giants of international football to acclimatise here because of the sub-standard facilities.”He said the World Cup is being played in winter for the first time in South Africa and the assumption is that teams from Europe will prefer training in countries with the same altitude as Johannesburg and Pretoria, before jetting in two days before the match.Muinjo became only the second president after Imms Namaseb to have Namibia qualify for the Nations Cup.He said Horst Schmidt, the secretary general of that association, will lead a delegation to Namibia, arriving in Windhoek on Saturday.Recently, a member of the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB) responsible for international projects, Johan Van Geijn, visited Namibia on invitation to check out conditions in the country as well as other aspects that he has to report on before projects and agreements could be negotiated, said Muinjo.”Other football associations will be officially invited during the draw of the World Cup in November.The NFA wants as early as possible to engage in lobbying those football nations to the country,” he said.Muinjo added: ”It might be potentially very difficult to convince these giants of international football to acclimatise here because of the sub-standard facilities.”He said the World Cup is being played in winter for the first time in South Africa and the assumption is that teams from Europe will prefer training in countries with the same altitude as Johannesburg and Pretoria, before jetting in two days before the match.Muinjo became only the second president after Imms Namaseb to have Namibia qualify for the Nations Cup.