No Warriors coach yet

The date for the appointment of a new Brave Warriors coach will not be known soon, after the Namibia Football Association (NFA) failed to keep by its promise of having this man in place by the end of March.

The biggest stumbling block is the coach’s payment which has not been sourced as yet, while a contract still needs to be put in place for the new boss. NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta told The Namibian Sport yesterday that football bosses will only move a step closer to realising the appointment, after their executive meeting scheduled to take place in Otjiwarongo this weekend.Earlier, technical director Seth Boois said that Namibia will have a new coach by the end of March, but that date has not been honoured as the association is still trying to secure funding for the salary.Just over 40 coaches from mainly foreign countries have applied for the vacant position, since it was advertised about three months ago.Kauta said the executive committee members would be expected to address the issue of the coach at their meeting, by firstly discussing the payment issue, while the terms of reference, and the contract as a whole, would also be scrutinised.He said although they were looking at having the coach in place at the end of last month, he was convinced that the position would be filled before Namibia competes in the annual Cosafa Castle Cup competition in July.He said there was initially a delay in having the new man on board after Germany made an offer to give the country a developmental coach, for whom they were also willing to foot the bill.”But it was thought that the applications for the ones who applied need to be looked at first, before making any decisions in appointing a coach,” he said.Namibia has been without a permanent coach for over three years and this has seen a dramatic slump in the country’s ranking status, both among the African footballing nations and in the world.Sources have it that the resignation of former NFA president Petrus Damaseb also delayed the process as he was a leading figure in trying to secure funding for the payment of the coach.Damaseb resigned as president about three weeks ago citing pressing work commitments as the Judge President of Namibia’s High Court.Insiders also argue that Namibia does not need to appoint a coach from countries outside Africa as Namibian football is technically not up to standard.A source at Soccer House revealed there is a possibility that a coach from one of the African countries would be appointed, but some of the executive members feel that Namibia will still be disadvantaged in their quest to qualify for both the African Nations Cup and the World Cup later this year, if a coach from the region comes into fray.The basis for the arguments are not clear, but the NFA plans to set up an interviewing panel which will consist of various football experts to recommend what type of coach will suit the Namibian set-up.No Namibian coaches have applied for the position, but only two foreign coaches who are based in Namibia submitted applications.Namibia is currently ranked 161 from 205 footballing nations affiliated to the Federation of International Football Associations (Fifa).The last competitive match for the country was in mid-April last year when Namibia lost on penalties to Botswana in a Cosafa Castle Cup tie.At this stage, there is no Brave Warriors in place, but only a selected Presidents XI which is the brainchild of Boois.The Presidents XI has so far played a few friendly matches and the idea according to Boois, is to incorporate the local players with the foreign-based players when the time for competition nears.NFA spokesperson Beau Kauta told The Namibian Sport yesterday that football bosses will only move a step closer to realising the appointment, after their executive meeting scheduled to take place in Otjiwarongo this weekend.Earlier, technical director Seth Boois said that Namibia will have a new coach by the end of March, but that date has not been honoured as the association is still trying to secure funding for the salary.Just over 40 coaches from mainly foreign countries have applied for the vacant position, since it was advertised about three months ago.Kauta said the executive committee members would be expected to address the issue of the coach at their meeting, by firstly discussing the payment issue, while the terms of reference, and the contract as a whole, would also be scrutinised.He said although they were looking at having the coach in place at the end of last month, he was convinced that the position would be filled before Namibia competes in the annual Cosafa Castle Cup competition in July.He said there was initially a delay in having the new man on board after Germany made an offer to give the country a developmental coach, for whom they were also willing to foot the bill.”But it was thought that the applications for the ones who applied need to be looked at first, before making any decisions in appointing a coach,” he said.Namibia has been without a permanent coach for over three years and this has seen a dramatic slump in the country’s ranking status, both among the African footballing nations and in the world.Sources have it that the resignation of former NFA president Petrus Damaseb also delayed the process as he was a leading figure in trying to secure funding for the payment of the coach.Damaseb resigned as president about three weeks ago citing pressing work commitments as the Judge President of Namibia’s High Court.Insiders also argue that Namibia does not need to appoint a coach from countries outside Africa as Namibian football is technically not up to standard.A source at Soccer House revealed there is a possibility that a coach from one of the African countries would be appointed, but some of the executive members feel that Namibia will still be disadvantaged in their quest to qualify for both the African Nations Cup and the World Cup later this year, if a coach from the region comes into fray.The basis for the arguments are not clear, but the NFA plans to set up an interviewing panel which will consist of various football experts to recommend what type of coach will suit the Namibian set-up.No Namibian coaches have applied for the position, but only two foreign coaches who are based in Namibia submitted applications.Namibia is currently ranked 161 from 205 footballing nations affiliated to the Federation of International Football Associations (Fifa).The last competitive match for the country was in mid-April last year when Namibia lost on penalties to Botswana in a Cosafa Castle Cup tie.At this stage, there is no Brave Warriors in place, but only a selected Presidents XI which is the brainchild of Boois.The Presidents XI has so far played a few friendly matches and the idea according to Boois, is to incorporate the local players with the foreign-based players when the time for competition nears.