Day: February 28, 2024

OPUWO: The Kunene Second Division Football League will resume this weekend with rounds five and six scheduled for Outjo, Kamanjab, Okaukuejo, and Khorixas, respectively, featuring 12 matchups.

Following a brief hiatus last weekend for the burial of the late President Hage Geingob, the KFL will resume this weekend as Khaibasen FC faces newcomers !Ugab FC at the Etoshapoort Stadium in Outjo on Saturday.

Young Eagles FC will host Sixty-Eleven FC at Okaukuejo, while Orlando Gariseb will face Kunene NamPol FC at the Herbert Conradie Stadium in Khorixas in a crucial game to avoid relegation. Robber Chanties FC, the league’s current leaders, will face newcomers Okarindi Komutati FC at Herbert Conradie Stadium, aiming to secure maximum points and extend their winning streak to five games.

On Saturday, Kamanjab will host two games, with Green Danger FC facing Pubs FC and Etosha United FC playing Khorixas Football Academy. On Sunday, Orlando Gariseb FC will meet Okarindi Komutati FC in Khorixas, while Young Eagles F
C will face !Ugab FC at Okaukuejo.

In the highly anticipated Sunday meeting between two long-standing rivals, Robber Chanties, who produced a 100 per cent starting record, will go toe-to-toe with last season’s runner-up, Kunene NamPol FC at Khorixas’s Herbert Conradie Stadium.

Khaibasen FC will play Sixty-Eleven FC at Outjo’s Etoshapoort Stadium, while Etosha United FC will face Pubs FC and Green Dangers FC will play Khorixas Football Academy in Kamanjab. Robber Chanties FC tops the log with 12 points after four games this season, having won all of them. Khaibasen FC is second with 10 points after two victories, a tie, and one defeat, followed by Green Dangers with seven points and Khorixas Football Academy in fourth place with six points. Young Eagles FC and Okarindi Komutati FC are the other teams with six points, ranking fifth and sixth, respectively. Etosha United FC is in seventh place with five points, one win, two draws, and one defeat in four games. !Ugab FC, Kunene Nampol FC, and Sixty-Eleven FC al
l have four points, with one victory, one tie, and two losses apiece. Pubs FC and Orlando Gariseb are in the relegation zone, with three and one point, respectively.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi, has allocated N.dollars 679.4 million to the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service for the 2024/25 financial year.

This was revealed when Shiimi tabled the N.dollars 100 billion national budget in the National Assembly on Wednesday, under the theme ‘Continuing the Legacy of His Excellency, President Hage G Geingob by Caring for the Namibian Child.’

The Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service’s allocation will be divided among its three directorates; sport, youth and national service.

The N.dollars 679.4 million budget saw the sports ministry receive an additional N.dollars 206 million compared to the allocation in the 2023/24 financial year budget, where it received N.dollars 473.2 million.

Shiimi said a total of N.dollars 124 million is allocated for the renovation and upgrading of facilities such as the Independence Stadium in Windhoek over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), among other priorities.

‘N.dollars
124 million has been provided in the development budget for, among others, upgrading of the Independence Stadium, as well as various sports facilities and multipurpose youth centres across the country,’ he said.

In the 2022/23 budget, the sports ministry received an allocation of N.dollars 50 million, while in the 2023/24 budget, an allocation of N.dollars 142 million for the renovation of facilities such as Independence Stadium was made. This year’s allocation once again comes as a tonic for the country’s worn-out sports sector, which continues to struggle with inadequate and dilapidated facilities.

The finance minister stated that the Vote of Sports, Youth and National Service has increased by 45.3 per cent to N.dollars 679.4 million in the Financial Year 2024/25 and a total of N.dollars 2.2 billion over the MTEF.

‘We take note of the re-energised interest in sports activities and have accordingly increased the operational budget for sport promotion programmes by an additional N.dollars 100 million,’ he
said, adding that the budget increase includes N.dollars 29.5 million for preparatory activities to enable Namibia to host the Region 5 Youth Games in May 2025.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: The Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC) on Tuesday withdrew coach and team manager Titus Muunda Joseph from the boxing squad travelling to Italy for the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers.

Joseph was selected as team manager for the six amateur boxers who were given a chance to compete in the 2024 World Qualification Tournament for the upcoming Paris Olympics. The tournament is scheduled to take place from 29 February to 12 March 2024 in Busto Arsizio, Italy.

At the African boxing championships held in Dakar, Senegal last year, Namibian boxers were unable to secure slots for their country.

In a letter released on Monday, the NNOC informed the Namibia Boxing Federation (NBF) that Joseph had been removed from the travelling squad due to comments he made in a local newspaper.

The statement from the letter reads, ‘The withdrawal of Mr Joseph is a result of allegations made by him against the Namibia National Olympic Committee in a newspaper article in the Namibian Sun of Wednesday, 21 February 2024
.’

It further added that regardless of all the efforts from the NNOC to assist the boxing athletes, Joseph chose to disclose the opposite in his newspaper interview. Joseph’s accusations range from lack of assistance to unfit athletes and inadequate support, among others, for the previous participation in Senegal.

The letter also stated that they could not recall that the NNOC received a report (neither verbal nor written) from the Namibia Boxing Federation or from Joseph, suggesting any recommendations upon their return from Dakar.

In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, NBF Secretary General Petrus Kashongo said that after hours of discussions between the NBF and the NNOC, on Tuesday night the Olympic Committee stood by its decision to remove Joseph from the team for tarnishing their name.

‘I was hoping that we would find a conclusion the same way we found the conclusion of two boxers who were on the same weight scale and needed only one to represent the country,’ he said.

The NBF secretary general ad
ded that having one coach in a team of six boxers is challenging, but they are at the mercy of the NNOC who are funding the team’s trip to Italy.

Kashongo also said he is worried that Namibian boxers will face the same difficulties they had while representing the country at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

‘The coach had to divide himself between training, warming up during the match, and sitting ringside during competition. This made it challenging for other boxers to warm up and get to the ring for their fights. Coaches need to raise these issues in their reports upon their return so that those funding this trip can understand how many people are needed to form part of the team,’ he said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency