Former African Stars captain and Tigers player Pat-Nevin Uanivi said he is saddened to see prospective national senior football team players roaming the streets due to a lack of active football.
Speaking on a sports programme that was broadcast on the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation over the weekend, Uanivi who has four Namibia Premier League (NPL) titles said not playing regular league football is causing young footballers missed opportunities of representing the country internationally.
“The last time league football was played in this country was during the 2018-2019 NPL season. Imagine what’s happening to those young players who represented Namibia at the Under-20 (U-20) African Cup of Nations, they would have been playing for Premier League teams or been out of the country now,” said Uanivi.
The footballer who has five NFA Cups, two Standard Bank Super Cups, one Standard Bank Top-8 Cup and one NPL League Cup to his name, added that he still has two seasons left in him and football being dormant in the country is also affecting his playing days.
The last time league football was played in Namibia was during the 2018/19 NPL season, which was won by Black Africa. The NFA then expelled the NPL as a member for bringing the association into disrepute at its 16th Extra-Ordinary Congress that was held in February 2020.
Uanivi said the division between football administrators is affecting the growth of young footballers.
“As a footballer your lifespan is limited and the longer it takes for football to be played in this country the more these young players are going to miss out. By the time football starts they will be too old to make an impact, as they would be older and their bodies would not react as they would have done now when young. This is also affecting our national team because the selectors don’t have a pool of players to choose from as there is no football,” Uanivi said.
Uanivi, who made three senior national team appearances, six U-23 appearances and 14 U-20 appearances hopes football will once again resume in the country before the end of the year
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
