Fifa should have known better

Jesse Jackson Kauraisa Today, Fifa is writing letters and expressing its disappointment over the current infighting in Namibian football, but all this could have been avoided.Scribes were worried from the start about the manner in which the current leadership of the football association had taken office back in February 2020.As journalists, we continued penning our concerns about how dirty the campaign towards the presidency and Namibia Football Association (NFA) executive positions appeared to be.We sent a strong message that the problem in this country’s football was not those in power but the structure of the organisation and the powers vested in several individuals within the leadership.Yet a Fifa-led normalisation committee with people who were aware of the kind of troubles in football still allowed an election, which they clearly saw was set up to fail, to take place.Fifa and the committee allowed people with different ideologies but with a common goal to make sure “we take certain individuals and tribes out of the football leadership” to take over.Well, today we sit with the same problem and reason why the normalisation committee had been appointed.Today, we have Fifa writing letters about how disappointed it is in the split between the executive and its leaders.What did they expect? When all they do is send one-sided envoys to solve problems or take into consideration only those people they perceive as honest.The truth is that the dirty politics played in football before elections will always haunt the beautiful game in this country unless people begin to turn away from this.It is a shame that you have a football leadership that is split into two merely because of different personal interests.What a shame that we have groups not even part of the leadership structures calling the shots and suspending the president of a football association.It is again a shame that the kind of arguments among these football leaders have become more about tenders and deals rather than the game at hand.I call it a shame because we have a toothless executive that is being remote-controlled by a third force known as the ‘Progressive Forces’.This is what happens when people plan a coup without proper ideas on how to take the game forward after they have achieved their goal.It happens because those who are in power made promises to those who campaigned for them and it is now payback time.This, in simple terms, is the fact that people sold their souls to the devil and it is now collecting its debts.There will be no rest for Ranga Haikali, Franco Cosmos or the NFA executive until they take control of the association without a third force.Fifa will continue having to solve and write letters to Namibia unless they investigate and solve the real core of Namibia’s problems.The football governing body has to think about the over 400 players and their families who are starving, while those at the top are living comfortable lives.The problem lies within the powers that some of those in Fifa’s structures accord to individuals in our football structures.Lastly, my cry to those at the helm of the association is that they must find a common goal and harmonise their leadership.The truth is that we are actually at risk of being suspended or even banned by Fifa with the continuous problems we create for ourselves.The NFA is not anyone’s mother’s house but a house to restore the hopes and dreams of those who want to play the beautiful game.Sport is a unifier and we need to break those barriers at NFA and make it a peaceful football house. jesse@namibiansun.com

Fifa should have known better

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Republikein 2026-03-02

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Fifa should have known better

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Republikein 2026-03-02

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