On Namibia’s Football Woes

THE main problem with the NFA is that it suffers from an incentive problem.

This is not unusual because virtually all football associations, particularly in Africa, face inappropriate incentives. Basically what the NFA does is allocating other peoples’ money.When the allocation is not put to productive use, and this seems to be case in Namibia for several years now, no one is punished for the waste of scarce funds.In the alternative case, when money is correctly put to productive use, no one is explicitly rewarded, or at least there is no guarantee of a reward.A priori, it appears reasonable to postulate that if, say 90 per cent of the ‘allowances’ and salaries of administrators and coaching staff are output-driven and only payable after a ‘best’ result, our situation would be entirely different from the current one.This problem seems to be compounded with the apparent inabilities to measure the benefits accruing from each allocation.Consider, for example, our continental ranking, from 1998 to date.In December 1998, Namibia was ranked 13th in Africa.To date, Namibia is classified as a ‘Current Loser of the Year’ in Africa by Fifa.In 2003 alone, Namibia dropped 9 places to 38th for the country’s lowest ever ranking, after suffering 6 losses out of 8 matches played this year and 14 losses from 16 matches since mid-June 2001.Namibia’s position this year is three times worse than five years ago! If these ratings are anything to go by, the problem seems to have gone out of control from 2001 to the present.The situation is akin to no management at all.In this state of affairs, potential sponsors see nothing worth sponsoring.Sponsorship is not dumping.That’s why the World Bank attaches so many conditions when it sponsors.Judged by the quality of output at both domestic and national levels, the performance of the current NFA is the worst the country has ever seen.Fortunately, this poor record of outcomes does not appear to be due to lack of funds and/or sponsorship.The multitude of sponsors, particularly Namibia Breweries, are to be applauded for putting forward their hard-earned money to keep the game of football going.It is sad that this money was not put to productive use.I salute the many individual sponsors in all 13 regions for engaging local talent.It is sad to note that fine and world-standard talent goes unnoticed in our regions.This is irrespective of the well-functioning school and community-based structures everywhere in Namibia.The Government is to be applauded for consistently and almost single-handedly carrying the financial burden of the national teams, coaching staff, infrastructure and engaging talent at every (public) educational institution countrywide.Virtually all secondary (and primary) schools in Namibia have active football teams, under a sports organiser, who hails from the teaching staff.The best football talent is paraded at this level.Further, most constituencies in Namibia boast a football team, sometimes a lot of teams.This is the widest talent arena an innovative football manager in a sparsely populated country such as Namibia could imagine.Every educational region too has a youth officer who is responsible for sports activities in that region.The NFA has no reason not to have a robust database of outstanding talent listed by region.My contention is that with an organisational structure like this, the task of talent spotting missions could not be easier.A lot of money is spent on organising football activities at school, circuit and community level.To scoop talent from the grassroots level, therefore, does not require sponsorship in addition to what is being done now.There is thus no structural problem of talent-spotting at the grassroots level.Innovation is more important than Schools of Excellence and Soccer Houses that require huge capital outlays.A lot of money is spent on football countrywide.There are organised football activities in every corner of Namibia.It seems that these structures and their organisers are not recognised.For sure, full advantage of this set-up has not been seized.It is suicidal in today’s demanding international football to introduce abrupt, large-scale changes.A lot of ‘new blood’ never works.Our friendlies against Angola this year demonstrated this fact beyond doubt.There is no argument that Namibia has excellent football potential.This is despite the fact that selection of players in Namibia is extremely narrow and pre-dominantly Windhoek-based.The problem of finding prolific strikers is only due to apathy, ignorance and lack of drive.It is an error to think that the domestic league is a fair reflection of Namibia’s potential.In our situation talent-spotting should go beyond the domestic league.There is urgent need to ameliorate the incentive problem.Feedback from regions and communities has not worked.Whatever is done is mainly paperwork and bureaucratic procedures.Given the incentive problem and inertia of the NFA, nothing is likely to be done soon.- Austin Kwenani – Via e-mailNote: This letter has been shortenedBasically what the NFA does is allocating other peoples’ money. When the allocation is not put to productive use, and this seems to be case in Namibia for several years now, no one is punished for the waste of scarce funds. In the alternative case, when money is correctly put to productive use, no one is explicitly rewarded, or at least there is no guarantee of a reward. A priori, it appears reasonable to postulate that if, say 90 per cent of the ‘allowances’ and salaries of administrators and coaching staff are output-driven and only payable after a ‘best’ result, our situation would be entirely different from the current one. This problem seems to be compounded with the apparent inabilities to measure the benefits accruing from each allocation. Consider, for example, our continental ranking, from 1998 to date. In December 1998, Namibia was ranked 13th in Africa. To date, Namibia is classified as a ‘Current Loser of the Year’ in Africa by Fifa.In 2003 alone, Namibia dropped 9 places to 38th for the country’s lowest ever ranking, after suffering 6 losses out of 8 matches played this year and 14 losses from 16 matches since mid-June 2001. Namibia’s position this year is three times worse than five years ago! If these ratings are anything to go by, the problem seems to have gone out of control from 2001 to the present. The situation is akin to no management at all. In this state of affairs, potential sponsors see nothing worth sponsoring. Sponsorship is not dumping. That’s why the World Bank attaches so many conditions when it sponsors. Judged by the quality of output at both domestic and national levels, the performance of the current NFA is the worst the country has ever seen. Fortunately, this poor record of outcomes does not appear to be due to lack of funds and/or sponsorship. The multitude of sponsors, particularly Namibia Breweries, are to be applauded for putting forward their hard-earned money to keep the game of football going. It is sad that this money was not put to productive use. I salute the many individual sponsors in all 13 regions for engaging local talent. It is sad to note that fine and world-standard talent goes unnoticed in our regions. This is irrespective of the well-functioning school and community-based structures everywhere in Namibia. The Government is to be applauded for consistently and almost single-handedly carrying the financial burden of the national teams, coaching staff, infrastructure and engaging talent at every (public) educational institution countrywide. Virtually all secondary (and primary) schools in Namibia have active football teams, under a sports organiser, who hails from the teaching staff. The best football talent is paraded at this level. Further, most constituencies in Namibia boast a football team, sometimes a lot of teams. This is the widest talent arena an innovative football manager in a sparsely populated country such as Namibia could imagine. Every educational region too has a youth officer who is responsible for sports activities in that region. The NFA has no reason not to have a robust database of outstanding talent listed by region. My contention is that with an organisational structure like this, the task of talent spotting missions could not be easier. A lot of money is spent on organising football activities at school, circuit and community level. To scoop talent from the grassroots level, therefore, does not require sponsorship in addition to what is being done now. There is thus no structural problem of talent-spotting at the grassroots level. Innovation is more important than Schools of Excellence and Soccer Houses that require huge capital outlays. A lot of money is spent on football countrywide. There are organised football activities in every corner of Namibia. It seems that these structures and their organisers are not recognised. For sure, full advantage of this set-up has not been seized. It is suicidal in today’s demanding international football to introduce abrupt, large-scale changes. A lot of ‘new blood’ never works. Our friendlies against Angola this year demonstrated this fact beyond doubt. There is no argument that Namibia has excellent football potential. This is despite the fact that selection of players in Namibia is extremely narrow and pre-dominantly Windhoek-based. The problem of finding prolific strikers is only due to apathy, ignorance and lack of drive. It is an error to think that the domestic league is a fair reflection of Namibia’s potential. In our situation talent-spotting should go beyond the domestic league. There is urgent need to ameliorate the incentive problem. Feedback from regions and communities has not worked. Whatever is done is mainly paperwork and bureaucratic procedures. Given the incentive problem and inertia of the NFA, nothing is likely to be done soon.- Austin Kwenani – Via e-mail Note: This letter has been shortened