No topflight players at Top Score 7s 

Topflight footballers are barred from participating in this year’s Top Score Windhoek 7-a-Side Tournament, the organisers said during the competition’s launch on Tuesday.

The annual social football event for businesses kicks off at Ramblers sport field on Friday, with close to N$30 000 up for grabs.

In a bid to level the playing field, the organisers made the decision to exclude players who are signed to a Namibia Football Premier League team.

“We feel since it’s a company tournament, you should use staff from the various outlets you may have. Premier league players normally get paid and play at an advanced level,” Top Score 7-a-Side administrator Cynthia Balzar said.

“We didn’t have an issue with it in the past, but since they are professional players, we don’t want to have them as part of the team this time around,” she said.

Another exciting tournament is expected, with several new teams having signed up.

“This year, we’ve got a very high number of new teams entering the Top Score 7-a-Side. One is always rather surprised that you have new companies coming on board. We are a very happy about that,” Balzar said.

Diego Talaya, the junior brand manager at Top Score, said supporters can expect an assortment of surprises during the course of the event.

“We’ve been doing the Top Score 7-a-Side tournament for 24 years now, and for us it is very important to nurture this relationship between us, Ramblers, and all other stakeholders,” he said.

“It is very important for us to unite people, not only with food around the table, but also with the beautiful game we all love, which is football.

“This is one of the ways we have to give back to the community and make sure people are off the streets, and that they have fun with us,” Talaya said.

“We will have some surprises, like the ‘Chicken Boyz’ will be at the tournament. I don’t want to reveal too much, but let the people just come to the games.”