Namibia will pay close to N.dollars 2 million per game for using South African stadiums whenever the national football team, the Brave Warriors, play international games there.
This was revealed by Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Agnes Tjongarero on Wednesday during the Namibia Annual Sports Expo 2021 launch at Windhoek Gymnasium’s school hall.
She said currently, the national football team is forced to play their home games outside the country due to local facilities not meeting the expected standards. This means that per game day the country is losing close to N.dollars 2 million that is being invested in the South African economy, through among others renting of stadiums, air tickets and accommodation of the team and officials.
This came after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) declared the Sam Nujoma Stadium substandard and no longer fit for use in April this year, which resulted in CAF issuing a fine of N.dollars 85 800 to the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for using a dilapidated stadium for international matches.
The fine was paid and NFA was forced to find available international standard stadiums in neighbouring countries and they secured Orlando Stadium in South Africa.
Tjongarero said Namibians are losing the opportunity to conduct business outside local stadiums, while the local football-loving community is being deprived of experiencing the joy of watching football matches live, “and they resort to watching their heroes and heroines on televisions”.
Tjongarero appealed to the private sector to invest in local sport facilities to keep money in the country and boost the economy.
“It is in the best interest of everybody for the nation to pull together and ensure that our facilities can be upgraded to the expected standards, thus my call again to the private sector to come on board and invest in sport. We all know the impact sport tourism has on the coffers of towns in which major sporting tournaments are hosted, and Namibian towns will not be any different,” she said.
This year’s sport expo will be held virtually in Windhoek due to COVID-19 regulations and various local sport federations are expected to participate.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
