Castle stops funding Friendship League

THE Castle Lager Friendship League, a football development programme, will not take place this year after its main sponsors, Castle Brewing Namibia, pulled out.

The tournament, which featured all of Namibia’s 13 geographic regions, has been stopped after the brewer decided to “… re-align its financial resources to those activities that are of immediate commercial importance”. Castle Brewing Namibia’s corporate affairs director, Albertus Naruseb, announced that the company “… regrets to withdraw from such an important platform that has been designed to support the future of football in Namibia”.He said they would aim to continue to look to future development opportunities in Namibia.Insiders told The Namibian Sport that the sponsors had decided to halt financial support to the event after they did not get the desired results from it.The aim of the development programme, according to the company, was to provide countrywide opportunities for the development of football players who were not affiliated to any of the existing formal football structures and should have mainly focused on the players under the age of 20.This has in some instances not proved to be the case as some players who played in the past three tournaments were over-aged while some also had a stake in formal football structures, especially at first and second division level.Despite the emergence of several footballers from the programme who are now playing at a higher level, Castle Brewing Namibia decided to stop its funding for the programme.The South African beer giant has so far spent N$2,250 million on the tournament that was launched in 2001.The event was annually conducted under the auspices of the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture through the Directorate of Sport, which drew up fixtures while they were also responsible for the logistics.A source at the Ministry informed The Namibian Sport that the sponsors withdrew due to low spectator turnout figures, The event is conducted in almost each region, leading up to the final that is then played in a chosen region.Castle Brewing Namibia’s corporate affairs director, Albertus Naruseb, announced that the company “… regrets to withdraw from such an important platform that has been designed to support the future of football in Namibia”.He said they would aim to continue to look to future development opportunities in Namibia.Insiders told The Namibian Sport that the sponsors had decided to halt financial support to the event after they did not get the desired results from it.The aim of the development programme, according to the company, was to provide countrywide opportunities for the development of football players who were not affiliated to any of the existing formal football structures and should have mainly focused on the players under the age of 20.This has in some instances not proved to be the case as some players who played in the past three tournaments were over-aged while some also had a stake in formal football structures, especially at first and second division level.Despite the emergence of several footballers from the programme who are now playing at a higher level, Castle Brewing Namibia decided to stop its funding for the programme.The South African beer giant has so far spent N$2,250 million on the tournament that was launched in 2001.The event was annually conducted under the auspices of the Ministry of Basic Education and Culture through the Directorate of Sport, which drew up fixtures while they were also responsible for the logistics.A source at the Ministry informed The Namibian Sport that the sponsors withdrew due to low spectator turnout figures, The event is conducted in almost each region, leading up to the final that is then played in a chosen region.