League kick-off silence ‘worrisome’ 

Uncertainty abounds as the Namibia Football Association (NFA) remains mum on the kick-off date for the 2024/25 football season and status of potential sponsors.

That was the recurring theme when Desert Radio spoke to a number of topflight clubs last week to gauge their readiness and anticipation of the new season.

African Stars executive chairman Salomo Hei said he did not know when the new domestic football season would kick off as there is no communication from the football association to the clubs.

PstBet Eeshoke Chula Chula FC chairman Tamhila Ambrosius echoed the same concern, while Blue Waters FC mentor Lucky Shipanga called for better planning.

“We are really staring uncertainty in the face. As a club it does not augur well for us. We do not want to reach the peak of our pre-season, and after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League first preliminary round against Jwaneng Galaxy, we do not want to come back and have no idea when the league will kick off,” Hei said.

Stars won the first leg of their champions league tie 1-0 in Gaborone on Saturday and face their Batswana opponents in five days’ time.

“Without certainty on when the league would start and not knowing which teams are coming up and how many clubs would feature, it is very worrying.

“. . . we do not know how many clubs are coming up or going down,” he said.

“We do not even know if we have a sponsor, and what would the prize money be we would be playing for.”

Ambrosius said: “Chula Chula management has not received any information on the league kick-off.

“It is very frustrating, because you call players for pre-season training and end up being told there is no league, or a situation where you do not call up players, and next you are told the league will start next week.

“It is so frustrating, and we are really experiencing a dilemma and have no idea what is going on.”

Shipanga said a plan must be in place to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.

“The pre-season objective is to prepare a team, but one cannot continue training without knowing when the league will start. We are depending on the grants from the football association, and collectively information sharing must be transparent,” he said.

“Maybe they are dealing with the [promotion/relegation] issue of the Namibia Correctional Service that might have caused the delay, and if so, I hope they resolve the problem soonest,” Shipanga said.

Hei described the situation as worrisome and again suggested that the topflight division should not reside under the NFA.

“Remember, we have always been one of the clubs advocating for the league to be independent and autonomous,” he said.

“I don’t really know what is keeping them, but I sincerely hope they find a speedy solution to this unusual situation.”

Shipanga said the football league cannot function without the association.

He said Namibia’s football set-up “is still at an infant stage, and perhaps the new football leadership is busy mopping out problems created by the previous regime”.