No money for Warriors

THE Brave Warriors will not play a scheduled friendly match against Angola next Wednesday due to a shortage of money.

The match should have formed part of the Fifa international friendly calendar. Namibia Football Association (NFA) acting secretary general Barry Rukoro told The Namibian Sport that the match has been called off because the association cannot afford to host the northern neighbours.He said it was costly to host a team instead of travelling to another country, where the costs are borne by the host country.He said Angola were supposed to host Namibia, but due to the African Volleyball Championships which will be held in that country at the same time, they asked Namibia to host it instead.But this cannot materialise because it will cost the NFA between N$350 000 and N$400 000 to host the Angolans – money that the association does not have.Rukoro said costs are even higher when players have to be paid performance fees.He said the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC), which is sponsoring local football to the tune of N$40 million until 2010, also cannot make the match possible.”The consortium cannot assist the association with this match.There is also nowhere we can turn to,” said Rukoro.The consortium, which consists of Mobile Telecommunications (MTC), First National Bank and Namibia (FNB) Breweries Limited (NBL), has earmarked N$8 million for the NFA each year, but money to the national teams seems to have dried up.Namibia’s last home match was against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an African Nations Cup qualifier two months ago.Their last away matches were during the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana, in which Namibia was again knocked out at the first hurdle.Namibia Football Association (NFA) acting secretary general Barry Rukoro told The Namibian Sport that the match has been called off because the association cannot afford to host the northern neighbours.He said it was costly to host a team instead of travelling to another country, where the costs are borne by the host country.He said Angola were supposed to host Namibia, but due to the African Volleyball Championships which will be held in that country at the same time, they asked Namibia to host it instead.But this cannot materialise because it will cost the NFA between N$350 000 and N$400 000 to host the Angolans – money that the association does not have.Rukoro said costs are even higher when players have to be paid performance fees.He said the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC), which is sponsoring local football to the tune of N$40 million until 2010, also cannot make the match possible.”The consortium cannot assist the association with this match.There is also nowhere we can turn to,” said Rukoro.The consortium, which consists of Mobile Telecommunications (MTC), First National Bank and Namibia (FNB) Breweries Limited (NBL), has earmarked N$8 million for the NFA each year, but money to the national teams seems to have dried up.Namibia’s last home match was against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an African Nations Cup qualifier two months ago.Their last away matches were during the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana, in which Namibia was again knocked out at the first hurdle.