NFA readies for World Cup

NAMIBIA yesterday signed an agreement with Sportfive that will pave the way for foreign football nations to set up camp in the country ahead of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa.

Namibia Football Association (NFA) chief executive officer Barry Rukoro confirmed to The Namibian Sport yesterday that the agreement will see Namibia hosting at least four top football-playing nations, ahead of the world’s second biggest sporting showpiece next June.’Ideally we would like to have four countries in Namibia, preferably two from Europe and a another two from any African country,’ he said.Sportfive is the world’s leading football agency and one of the largest sports agencies around the globe.In all, Sportfive has co-operations with more than 30 football associations and over 250 clubs, as well as 10 leagues. Sportfive have also signed a similar agreement with Lesotho, but their talks with Botswana bogged down due to contractual disagreements.He said Sportfive will decide on which countries they will assign to Namibia to get themselves ready for the 2010 World Cup, while they will also assist and get all the logistics in place before the teams head to Namibia.’Sportfive will have consultants who will be here in advance to look at the facilities and make sure that the basic requirements before sending out the teams are met. In our agreement with them, they have undertaken to put in a new layer of grass at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek. They will remove the current turf so that the new one conforms to their standards and it will also be the same as the one that the teams at the World Cup in South Africa will be playing on,’ he said. He added that the consultants will also look at accommodation facilities and related issues, but it will be according certain specifications and will be tailor-made for the teams.’Initially, the idea is to have things organised the way the teams want it. They will have the choice of what extras they will require in hotels, training field and so on. So, for whatever they wish for, we have to provide for,’ he said.Rukoro said the idea is for Namibia to be part of the World Cup.’Obviously, the biggest attraction for the Namibians will be when these nations face each other. Namibia might not necessarily play against them, but imagine if Holland and Spain decide to have their training camps here and engage in a friendly at one of our stadiums. It is good for the country in terms of publicity to the world and also provide the fans with the best of entertainment because some of the world’s best footballers will be involved,’ he said.He said the other good news is that North Korea has confirmed that they would want to set up base in Namibia ahead of the event.’I can confirm that its almost a certainty that we will have North Korea here as another country to finalise its preparations ahead of the competition,’ said Rukoro.He said that agreement is on the Government level and is not part of the Sportfive initiative.He said formal announcements regarding which countries will come to Namibia next May, will be announced when the time is right.Sportfive is also MATCH Hospitality’s exclusive sales agent in Continental Europe for the official hospitality programme at the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa. corry@namibian.com.na