Warriors in financial fix

THE financial crisis in which the Brave Warriors find themselves can ruin their preparations for their crucial African Nations Cup qualifier against Ethiopia on September 8 in Addis Ababa.

The Namibia Football Association (NFA) last week declared that there is no cash to even have the Brave Warriors play in a friendly international match, which was scheduled for today against Angola in Windhoek. The Warriors have to wait for funds to be channelled from Government and possibly the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC), after it emerged that they have used up their allocated funds already.The players have not been in camp since they returned from the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana at the end of last month.Head coach Ben Bamfuchile and his two assistants face a race against time get the team ready for the important encounter that can determine the side’s future in the continental tournament, which will culminate with the finals in Ghana next year.”I want the team in camp as soon as yesterday, but there are no funds to keep them there,” Bamfuchile told The Namibian Sport yesterday.At the moment, there is no indication as to when the money for the side will be available to start with their preparations.Bamfuchile said he normally prefers the team to be in camp at least four weeks ahead of a major international match, but in this case, the Namibian players have been idle, with some even wondering if the match against Ethiopia is still on.Bamfuchile, who recently returned to office after an absence due to illness, said he was disturbed by the fact that the team was currently not in camp.”We are running out of time and with only about two weeks to go, it will be difficult to get the players in shape for the match against Ethiopia,” he said.He said his side also suffered a loss after German-based international Collin Benjamin was ruled out for the next two weeks with an ankle injury.To add more misery to the side, leading Warriors goalkeeper Abiater Shiningayamwe will also not be available for the next three weeks, after he was injured at his South African-based Jomo Cosmos side.Bamfuchile said this was a blow, but he was hoping that money would be made available soon enough to get the available players into shape before the clash.Namibia have seven points from their five matches in Group 10 and are ranked second behind the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who sit on eight points after the same number of matches.Ethiopia are third on six points, while Libya are on the last spot with four points.Bamfuchile said the team needed to start training by the latest next week and most of it would be done in South Africa.”We want to train in Johannesburg for at least the next two weeks, as the conditions there are the same as in Ethiopia,” he said.He said the side to tour Ethiopia would be announced today.The technical team was still busy yesterday drawing up the team’s programme leading up to the Ethiopia match.The Namibian team travelled with a lightweight side to Botswana last month and once again failed to progress to the second stage of the competition, after being knocked out by a solitary goal by the host country.The only senior players in the side were veteran midfielder Robert Nauseb and German-based Oliver Risser, with the other South African players left out because they could not be released by their clubs in time.This time, Namibia will bank on mostly their South African contingent which includes Nauseb, striker Sidney Plaatjies and possibly veteran defender Mohammed Ouseb, who made a return to his former club, Moroka Swallows, this season.Ouseb, one of the darlings of Namibian football, has been out of action for close to a year and has not regained the form that made him one of the most feared defenders in the region.The side will also rely on their Angolan-based duo Meraai Swartbooi and Letu Shatimuene, who turn out for Premeiro de Agosto in the top league of that country.Two other players who could have boosted the Warriors’ efforts to make it to the second Nations Cup finals, seasoned defender George Hummel and Norwegian-based midfield genius Quinton Jacobs, have both voluntarily turned their backs on the national side because of internal squabbles.The Warriors have to wait for funds to be channelled from Government and possibly the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC), after it emerged that they have used up their allocated funds already.The players have not been in camp since they returned from the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana at the end of last month.Head coach Ben Bamfuchile and his two assistants face a race against time get the team ready for the important encounter that can determine the side’s future in the continental tournament, which will culminate with the finals in Ghana next year.”I want the team in camp as soon as yesterday, but there are no funds to keep them there,” Bamfuchile told The Namibian Sport yesterday.At the moment, there is no indication as to when the money for the side will be available to start with their preparations.Bamfuchile said he normally prefers the team to be in camp at least four weeks ahead of a major international match, but in this case, the Namibian players have been idle, with some even wondering if the match against Ethiopia is still on.Bamfuchile, who recently returned to office after an absence due to illness, said he was disturbed by the fact that the team was currently not in camp.”We are running out of time and with only about two weeks to go, it will be difficult to get the players in shape for the match against Ethiopia,” he said.He said his side also suffered a loss after German-based international Collin Benjamin was ruled out for the next two weeks with an ankle injury.To add more misery to the side, leading Warriors goalkeeper Abiater Shiningayamwe will also not be available for the next three weeks, after he was injured at his South African-based Jomo Cosmos side.Bamfuchile said this was a blow, but he was hoping that money would be made available soon enough to get the available players into shape before the clash.Namibia have seven points from their five matches in Group 10 and are ranked second behind the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who sit on eight points after the same number of matches.Ethiopia are third on six points, while Libya are on the last spot with four points.Bamfuchile said the team needed to start training by the latest next week and most of it would be done in South Africa.”We want to train in Johannesburg for at least the next two weeks, as the conditions there are the same as in Ethiopia,” he said.He said the side to tour Ethiopia would be announced today.The technical team was still busy yesterday drawing up the team’s programme leading up to the Ethiopia match.The Namibian team travelled with a lightweight side to Botswana last month and once again failed to progress to the second stage of the competition, after being knocked out by a solitary goal by the host country.The only senior players in the side were veteran midfielder Robert Nauseb and German-based Oliver Risser, with the other South African players left out because they could not be released by their clubs in time.This time, Namibia will bank on mostly their South African contingent which includes Nauseb, striker Sidney Plaatjies and possibly veteran defender Mohammed Ouseb, who made a return to his former club, Moroka Swallows, this season.Ouseb, one of the darlings of Namibian football, has been out of action for close to a year and has not regained the form that made him one of the most feared defenders in the region.The side will also rely on their Angolan-based duo Meraai Swartbooi and Letu Shatimuene, who turn out for Premeiro de Agosto in the top league of that country.Two other players who could have boosted the Warriors’ efforts to make it to the second Nations Cup finals, seasoned defender George Hummel and Norwegian-based midfield genius Quinton Jacobs, have both voluntarily turned their backs on the national side because of internal squabbles.