FOUR teams will battle for the chance to face Namibia Premier League champions Tigers for the Standard Bank Namibia Super Cup, the NFA announced on Thursday.
Traditionally, the pre-season competition pits the league winners against the FA Cup holders. The FA Cup was not played last season due to the absence of a sponsor.
However, this year, the competition will see the top four teams which finished closest to the NPL champions competing in play-offs on 13 August, with the winner of the one-day mini-tournament going on to face Tigers on 10 September.
In the first match, Black Africa, who finished second last season, will take on second runner-up Tura Magic, while African Stars, who were fourth, play fifth-placed finishers Mighty Gunners.
“In the absence of the NFA Cup last season, we looked at what would be a fair and transparent way to determine the team to play Tigers,” Namibia Football Association secretary general Barry Rukoro explained.
He said the cash-strapped football organisation was indebted to Standard Bank Namibia, who indicated that they were looking at extending their sponsorship of the event. The initial three-year agreement ends this year.
“We cannot thank you enough. Football needs competitions to survive, as it is virtually impossible to play without a sponsorship. It is these types of sponsorships that are central to what we do. These competitions provide a platform for our players to show what they can do, and be noticed by national team selectors,” said Rukoro.
Standard Bank Namibia’s chief executive Vetumbuavi Mungunda said competition for private sector investment between sports codes and other social sectors was intense, which puts pressure on the corporates who become involved in sponsorships for two reasons; as a corporate responsibility, or to assist with its branding.
“Given this competition, it is important that the various social and sports codes demonstrate, clearly, their value-for-money for the investments and sponsorships they attract. But not only should they demonstrate value-for-money, but they should look at ways of enhancing this value-for money to the investors in their sector so as to continually attract further investments,” noted Mungunda.
“Our contractual agreement will end officially at the end of this year, or rather after the end of the current instalment of the Super Cup, after which we will assess the overall sponsorship with the NFA to determine the way forward,” Mungunda stated.
