Namibia Football Players Union on the move

The Namibia Football Players Union, (NAFPU), and Namibian football in general, received high accolades at the Annual General Assembly of the International Federation of Professional Footballers (FIFPro) which took place in Slovenia on 22 to 24 October.

At the occasion, NAFPU was awarded full membership by FIFPro, while Namibia was also selected to host the 2015 FIFPro African Congress. But in perhaps the most significant step, Namibian football administrator and the national women’s coach Jacqui Shipanga was nominated by Namibia and Africa to serve on the Women’s Football Committee of FIFPro.

The president of NAFPU, Silvester Goraseb, who attended the FIFPro AGM said it was a great achievement for Namibia.

“We will host the 2015 African Congress while Jacqui Shipanga was also nominated to serve on the Women’s Football Committee of FIFPro, which is a wonderful honour for Namibia,” he said.

Goraseb added that they would hold a one-day seminar for players and staff members to strengthen NAFPU’s operational capacity and to become more professional.

Goraseb was accompanied by the secretary general of FIFPro’s Africa Division, Stephane Burchkalter, as part of a tour to other southern African countries like South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

“We are very proud of the work and progress being made by Lolo Goraseb and the Namibian Football Players Union. We have 12 Players Unions in Africa and it’s very important to be close to the staff and to be able to defend the players and inform them about their rights and duties,” he said.

Goraseb, who said they currently had 118 Premier League players as members, acknowledged that their relationship with the Namibia Premier League was not at its best and that they faced some ‘challenges.’

“We have challenges and we need clarity with regard to our mandate and our relationship with the NPL. Our relationship is not at the best at the moment and it’s hampering the progress of Namibian football and our efforts to improve the conditions of our players,” he said.

Goraseb called on NPL clubs to take them seriously so that they could work together for the sake of the players.

“We have made several presentations to the NPL Board of Governors and informed them of our mandate. The Players Union is not there to fight clubs but to create a platform to discuss and solve our issues, and to have structures in place to represent the interests of football players. We need the principals of clubs at these meetings so that they can make decisions on behalf of their clubs,” he said.

Shipanga, meanwhile, said she was humbled to be nominated to FIFPro.

“I am humbled that NAFPU and Africa to have nominated me to serve on the Women’s Football Committee of FIFPro. It is long overdue that the players are given a platform and a voice to raise their concerns. I am humbled that FIFPro decided that it’s important to have a women’s division,” she said.

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