High demands set for new NFA chief

THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) has set extremely high standards for a person to step into the current acting secretary general’s position, if the requirements for the position to be advertised are anything to go by.

The position has been changed to that of a chief executive officer (CEO) and has requirements no previous secretary general has had to meet. Among other things, the prospective CEO would be required to have at least five years’ experience at senior management level, preferably in a business environment, coupled with an additional five years’ working experience.The candidate should also have a degree.”We are simply looking for someone who can add value to take Namibian football to the next level,” the advertisement reads.The successful person would be appointed on a three-year contract basis, expected to take Namibian football to 2010 and beyond.Yesterday, NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta told The Namibian Sport that the association would prefer a Namibian citizen to fill the position, which is currently being headed by Barry Rukoro as acting secretary general.He said the association would want to empower Namibians while they would also focus on recruiting someone from the previously disadvantaged community.On remuneration, Kauta said the association has not fully discussed any salary package, but will be looking at how best they can go about this issue, as the association was not a profit-making entity.”We will have to reach a compromise with our partners in football such as Government and the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) how best we can remunerate the new CEO,” he said.He said the executive would discuss the best possible way to pay the CEO who will head the secretariat.The new CEO will also be the chief engineer in finding a vision and directing Namibian football in general, with the help of various committee heads of the association.At the moment, the highest paid officials at the NFA are technical director Seth Boois, Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile and Rukoro, who is in an acting capacity.Rukoro was formerly the co-ordinator of the Disciplinary Committee of the NFA before he was seconded to the acting position, while Boois was a former coach of the Brave Warriors and junior teams.Bamfuchile, a Zambian national, was headhunted by the NFA early last year to fill the position, which was left vacant by German development coach Peter Ueberjahn.When asked about the interviewing panel, Kauta said it was decided that an independent panel would be set up to evaluate the applications and conduct the interviews.”We want a completely independent body for transparency and, most importantly, which will be impartial during the whole process,” he said.He said officials from the Ministry of Sport, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and members from the business community would be asked to serve on the panel.Funding and resource mobilisation for all the football programmes, including retaining and increasing the current sponsorships, will also form part of the CEO’s duties.The new person is also required to roll out a “vibrant communication and marketing strategy, while focus should also be placed on youth development in partnership with various partners”.The NFA currently lacks the capacity of developing the game at youth level as there are no regional structures in place, while their marketing strategy and finding ways of increasing revenue for the association are still ineffective.Another requirement would be for the person to have knowledge of relevant policies and programmes in Namibia and internationally.The person should have “evidence of business connections and be a workaholic”.The NFA earlier this year fired its long-serving secretary general, Alpheus Gaweseb, for failing to effectively carry out the activities of the association.Among other things, the prospective CEO would be required to have at least five years’ experience at senior management level, preferably in a business environment, coupled with an additional five years’ working experience.The candidate should also have a degree.”We are simply looking for someone who can add value to take Namibian football to the next level,” the advertisement reads.The successful person would be appointed on a three-year contract basis, expected to take Namibian football to 2010 and beyond.Yesterday, NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta told The Namibian Sport that the association would prefer a Namibian citizen to fill the position, which is currently being headed by Barry Rukoro as acting secretary general.He said the association would want to empower Namibians while they would also focus on recruiting someone from the previously disadvantaged community.On remuneration, Kauta said the association has not fully discussed any salary package, but will be looking at how best they can go about this issue, as the association was not a profit-making entity.”We will have to reach a compromise with our partners in football such as Government and the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) how best we can remunerate the new CEO,” he said.He said the executive would discuss the best possible way to pay the CEO who will head the secretariat.The new CEO will also be the chief engineer in finding a vision and directing Namibian football in general, with the help of various committee heads of the association.At the moment, the highest paid officials at the NFA are technical director Seth Boois, Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile and Rukoro, who is in an acting capacity.Rukoro was formerly the co-ordinator of the Disciplinary Committee of the NFA before he was seconded to the acting position, while Boois was a former coach of the Brave Warriors and junior teams.Bamfuchile, a Zambian national, was headhunted by the NFA early last year to fill the position, which was left vacant by German development coach Peter Ueberjahn.When asked about the interviewing panel, Kauta said it was decided that an independent panel would be set up to evaluate the applications and conduct the interviews.”We want a completely independent body for transparency and, most importantly, which will be impartial during the whole process,” he said.He said officials from the Ministry of Sport, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) and members from the business community would be asked to serve on the panel.Funding and resource mobilisation for all the football programmes, including retaining and increasing the current sponsorships, will also form part of the CEO’s duties.The new person is also required to roll out a “vibrant communication and marketing strategy, while focus should also be placed on youth development in partnership with various partners”.The NFA currently lacks the capacity of developing the game at youth level as there are no regional structures in place, while their marketing strategy and finding ways of increasing revenue for the association are still ineffective.Another requirement would be for the person to have knowledge of relevant policies and programmes in Namibia and internationally.The person should have “evidence of business connections and be a workaholic”.The NFA earlier this year fired its long-serving secretary general, Alpheus Gaweseb, for failing to effectively carry out the activities of the association.