Govt promises Brave Warriors bonuses

THE GOVERNMENT last week diffused a stand-off between the Brave Warriors and the normalisation committee over the payment of bonuses.

Although the Brave Warriors lost 1-4 to Zambia on Saturday, they still qualified for Egypt in July (see story on 32).

Fifa tasked the five-member normalisation committee in February to run the Namibia Football Association’s affairs after the executive committee’s mandate had expired.

The Brave Warriors had demanded a written undertaking from the normalisation committee that they would receive their qualifying bonuses.

In an email dated 20 March, team captain Ronald Ketjijere told Basson-Namundjembo that the highest amount the players expected was up to N$180 000 if they qualified for the Afcon tournament to be held in Egypt in July this year.

“The amount mentioned above is to be paid in proportion to the number of games each player has played or where he was part of the squad,” Ketjijere wrote.

Katjijere further said that the normalisation committee should forward the written undertaking to the players not later than 21 March before the team left for Lusaka, Zambia for the final qualifying round on Saturday.

“Take further note that the requested qualifying bonuses herein have nothing to do with the amount of money CAF will pay over to the association as preparation fund in the event that we qualify,” he wrote.

Ketjijere, however, told yesterday that the government came to the rescue and gave them a (written) undertaking on Friday.

The team had a meeting with the ministry of sports on Friday in Zambia where an official letter was handed over to them.

Basson-Namundjebo told yesterday that the players should not be blamed for making such a demand.

She said due to past maladministration, the players were left in limbo over their salaries and payments.

“They work hard, and they must be respected,” she said, adding that they should not be criticised over Saturday’s loss.

“People should not forget that the Afcon qualifiers started in 2017. Let’s not judge them on one bad day in office. If they had not played well, we would not be here today.”

She dismissed talk that the players did not play well because of the bonus issue, saying they were given the written undertaking on Friday before the match on Saturday.

“I don’t think they held a gun to our heads. We played badly to a good team that has just got a boost. The Zambian coach is new and the team wanted to prove that even if they don’t qualify, they are a formidable team,” she said.