Namibian bid presented to the North to gain support

A DELEGATION headed by Deputy Minister of Sport Pohamba Shifeta and Namibia Football Association president Petrus Damaseb visited Ondangwa last week to gain support for Namibia’s bid to host the African Cup of Nations tournament in 2010.

The delegation met with community and political leaders in the North, ranging from regional governors and mayors to regional and local authority councillors and officials. Damaseb said Namibia’s bid was fully supported by Government, but it was important that the whole nation was mobilised to support the bid.”The bid will go to the country that shows it has the passion to host the African Cup of Nations,” he said.”That is why it is so important that community and cultural leaders must show their support through messages and statements.Political leaders are also expected to mobilise their communities to show they want the bid,” he added.Damaseb said time was not on their side and it was therefore important to start acting immediately.”The Confederation of African Football will send an inspection team to Namibia in March or April, that will visit your areas and gauge your commitment,” he said.Saul Kahuika of the Bid Committee’s project team said if Namibia’s bid was successful, it would hold a lot of advantages for the northern region and the country as a whole.It would boost the tourism sector and create additional jobs in the hospitality sector, merchandising, banking, telecommunications, travel, transport industries and arts and crafts vendors, to name but a few.He said the North would specifically benefit through the construction of four artificial pitches in Oshana, Omusati and Oshikoto, while the Oshakati Stadium would be upgraded and a new stadium built in Ongwediva.He called on the northern community to establish a joint working group that will interact with Windhoek.He said the northern regional councils and local authorities would have to invest about N$2 million per year over four years in the campaign, but that this investment would eventually be outweighed by the potential benefits.These include the marketing of the northern region and its towns, 140 000 tickets for seven matches, an envisaged huge spectator inflow, the upgrade of the Oshakati Stadium, high-profile visitors and international exposure.Kahuika said the key factors to success would be to mobilise a passionate public behind the bid, Government, public and private sector support for the bid, and the rallying of nationwide support for the bid.GOVERNMENT SUPPORTDeputy Minister Shifeta said Cabinet had wholeheartedly endorsed the bid and called on the public and the private sector to assist in the national interest.”If it’s fair game, come May, we are going to win.Therefore, Government is fully in support of the bid and we must start our preparations now.Mozambique have already started their marketing campaign with lots of caps, T-shirts and scarves, thus we need to mobilise our people,” he said.”We want to make sure we win the bid and therefore Government has put the wheels in motion.We must make sure they have the resources.”Damaseb said an important factor was a nation’s preparedness to host the competition.”For example, the Confederation of African Football previously took the bid away from Zimbabwe because they were not ready to host it.If we are ready, that will convince them and half the battle will be won,” he said.He added that Namibia was probably the only African country that had met all the bid requirements.”This exercise is not happening anywhere else in Africa.Other countries just write a letter saying they are interested… I think we are a step ahead of the others.We must continue that process and strengthen it.We either do it properly or not at all,” he said.- Namibia SportDamaseb said Namibia’s bid was fully supported by Government, but it was important that the whole nation was mobilised to support the bid.”The bid will go to the country that shows it has the passion to host the African Cup of Nations,” he said.”That is why it is so important that community and cultural leaders must show their support through messages and statements.Political leaders are also expected to mobilise their communities to show they want the bid,” he added.Damaseb said time was not on their side and it was therefore important to start acting immediately.”The Confederation of African Football will send an inspection team to Namibia in March or April, that will visit your areas and gauge your commitment,” he said.Saul Kahuika of the Bid Committee’s project team said if Namibia’s bid was successful, it would hold a lot of advantages for the northern region and the country as a whole.It would boost the tourism sector and create additional jobs in the hospitality sector, merchandising, banking, telecommunications, travel, transport industries and arts and crafts vendors, to name but a few.He said the North would specifically benefit through the construction of four artificial pitches in Oshana, Omusati and Oshikoto, while the Oshakati Stadium would be upgraded and a new stadium built in Ongwediva.He called on the northern community to establish a joint working group that will interact with Windhoek.He said the northern regional councils and local authorities would have to invest about N$2 million per year over four years in the campaign, but that this investment would eventually be outweighed by the potential benefits.These include the marketing of the northern region and its towns, 140 000 tickets for seven matches, an envisaged huge spectator inflow, the upgrade of the Oshakati Stadium, high-profile visitors and international exposure.Kahuika said the key factors to success would be to mobilise a passionate public behind the bid, Government, public and private sector support for the bid, and the rallying of nationwide support for the bid.GOVERNMENT SUPPORT Deputy Minister Shifeta said Cabinet had wholeheartedly endorsed the bid and called on the public and the private sector to assist in the national interest.”If it’s fair game, come May, we are going to win.Therefore, Government is fully in support of the bid and we must start our preparations now.Mozambique have already started their marketing campaign with lots of caps, T-shirts and scarves, thus we need to mobilise our people,” he said.”We want to make sure we win the bid and therefore Government has put the wheels in motion.We must make sure they have the resources.”Damaseb said an important factor was a nation’s preparedness to host the competition.”For example, the Confederation of African Football previously took the bid away from Zimbabwe because they were not ready to host it.If we are ready, that will convince them and half the battle will be won,” he said.He added that Namibia was probably the only African country that had met all the bid requirements.”This exercise is not happening anywhere else in Africa.Other countries just write a letter saying they are interested… I think we are a step ahead of the others.We must continue that process and strengthen it.We either do it properly or not at all,” he said.- Namibia Sport