Supporters Club calls for reduction in fees

WINDHOEK -The Brave Warriors Supporters’ Club (BWSC), vice-chairman, Kayele Kambombo expressed dismay at the N$10 increment during the forthcoming 2008 qualifier between Namibia and the DRC at the Independence Stadium on Saturday.

The Namibia Football Association (NFA) has announced in a media release Monday that the entrance fee for the match against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be N$20 for the open and grand stand, whereas the more wealthier members of the society will fork-out N$200 for the VIP’s section. The football association has justified the increment as necessitated by the escalating cost of the general organisation of international matches.In an interview with Nampa yesterday on the increment, Kambombo said that ‘it hurts deeply’ that the association has decided to charge the public N$20 for the match.”They (NFA) have been calling for the public to fill the stadium to its capacity and now they wants us to pay N$20.Take the travelling expenses from Katutura and elsewhere, one has to pay a taxi N$20, the same amount at the entrance and another N$6 back home,” said the disappointed Kambombo.He argued that people are coming to support the Brave Warriors, adding that one has to have at least N$50 to go see the match.He said such a decision by the NFA is costly to the majority of the Brave Warriors’ supporters who are mostly unemployed.Said Kambombo: “Its a crucial game for Namibia and we cannot afford to have an empty stadium.We go there to support and cheer the Brave Warriors in helping intimidating the visiting teams but now with the N$10 increment, there will definitely be few supporters as most will decide to watch the match on television.”During the past Libyan match, we went to Katutura and Khomasdal to mobilise the support for the match and the field was almost packed to capacity.Kambombo warned that the NFA must stop generating funds from the gate-takings in order to pay for the players, adding that the match was pre-planned, therefore, the association was supposed to be ready to host the event and compensate the players duly.Kambombo said the NFA should reduce the entrance fee to N$10 ‘if they are serious about attracting a huge following.’ “We do not want a draw all we want is to beat DRC and Ethiopia in September,” said Kambombo.Efforts to get comment from the NFA acting secretary-general (SG), Barry Rukoro, proved futile after Nampa was categorically told that he will not respond to any phone calls as he is very busy.NampaThe football association has justified the increment as necessitated by the escalating cost of the general organisation of international matches.In an interview with Nampa yesterday on the increment, Kambombo said that ‘it hurts deeply’ that the association has decided to charge the public N$20 for the match.”They (NFA) have been calling for the public to fill the stadium to its capacity and now they wants us to pay N$20.Take the travelling expenses from Katutura and elsewhere, one has to pay a taxi N$20, the same amount at the entrance and another N$6 back home,” said the disappointed Kambombo.He argued that people are coming to support the Brave Warriors, adding that one has to have at least N$50 to go see the match.He said such a decision by the NFA is costly to the majority of the Brave Warriors’ supporters who are mostly unemployed.Said Kambombo: “Its a crucial game for Namibia and we cannot afford to have an empty stadium.We go there to support and cheer the Brave Warriors in helping intimidating the visiting teams but now with the N$10 increment, there will definitely be few supporters as most will decide to watch the match on television.”During the past Libyan match, we went to Katutura and Khomasdal to mobilise the support for the match and the field was almost packed to capacity.Kambombo warned that the NFA must stop generating funds from the gate-takings in order to pay for the players, adding that the match was pre-planned, therefore, the association was supposed to be ready to host the event and compensate the players duly.Kambombo said the NFA should reduce the entrance fee to N$10 ‘if they are serious about attracting a huge following.’ “We do not want a draw all we want is to beat DRC and Ethiopia in September,” said Kambombo.Efforts to get comment from the NFA acting secretary-general (SG), Barry Rukoro, proved futile after Nampa was categorically told that he will not respond to any phone calls as he is very busy.Nampa