THE Brave Warriors supporters who journeyed by bus to Lusaka for Namibia’s 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Zambia were at loggerheads with the trip organisers over travel and accommodation arrangements.
The irate mob held Namibia Sport Commission and NFA officials hostage for hours at Lusaka’ Olympic Youth Development Centre yesterday morning, where some where housed, claiming they had been subjected to sub-standard service during the trip.
Fans travelled by bus from Windhoek, Oshakati and Rundu for the match which determined Namibia’s place at the upcoming Afcon 2019 in Egypt.
The Windhoek and Oshakati travellers left on Wednesday and arrived in Lusaka on Friday, while those who boarded at Rundu left Thursday and reached their destination on Saturday morning.
The fans listed several issues of concern, ranging from delayed departure times, to having to fork out additional funds to pay for fuel and bus fees at the boarder posts for the Rundu contingent.
They demanded refunds totalling N$2 400 before boarding.
The collective also bemoaned the fact that they received their tickets and replicas, which were part of the package, just hours before the match as opposed to when they boarded in Namibia as agreed.
The fans paid N$700, exclusive of accommodation and meals, from Windhoek to Lusaka; N$500 from Oshakati; N$400 from Rundu; and N$350 for those that joined the Rundu bus at Katima Mulilo.
One of the Namibian fans on the trip, Lucas Victor, told The Namibian that the trip was disorganised from the start.
“The organisers never planned with their Zambian counterparts so that they at least knew that we were coming – there was no communication between our sports commission and our Zambian counterparts and this caused a lot of delays from the start,” he said.
“On the day of the match the supporters were promised replicas, but people got their replicas at the last minute and this incident frustrated our travelling supporters,” he added.
According to Victor, the fans had to bail out the bus drivers at the border.
“People had to pay with their own money to bail out our busses at one of the borders, because the arrangement was not done and the money was not given to the drivers.
“We have been here since 06h00 this morning. The accommodation here was not paid and the security locked us out. They said we cannot drive unless the accommodation of the drivers which was 750 Kwachas (N$907) was not paid. Now the people have been paid, but now the hiccup is the fuel money which we don’t have and the chances are that we will have to sleep at the border,” he said.
The NSC were responsible for transport, with the NFA dealing with tickets and replicas for which fans were charged an additional N$200 each.
“We encountered some difficulties due on misunderstandings on the trip, however they have been resolved and we will proceed with our journey back. Unfortunately, this means we are likely to sleep over in Livingstone and proceed home on Monday,” said NSC marketing manager Chalo Chainda.
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