Erasmus Shalihaxwes
Newly appointed deputy minister of sports, Dino Balloti, has pledged to fast-track the upgrade of the Independence Stadium to international standards to ensure the Brave Warriors can play home matches in the country again.
Balloti made the commitment over the weekend at State House, shortly after President Netumbo Nandi-Ndeitwah announced his appointment as deputy minister of the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture.
He added that he will meet with the minister, Sanet Steenkamp, and the technical team to map out a way forward for completing the project.
‘’We need to hit the ground running…there is no time to waste. I had a conversation with her excellence a few months ago, and the alignment is to get sports facilities at the international standard. My takeaway from that conversation is that we shall get the Brave Warriors playing their home games in Namibia once again very soon,’’ said Balloti.
In 2022, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) banned Namibia’s stadiums, including the Sam Nujoma and Independence Stadium, from hosting international games due to their failure to meet required standards.
As a result, national teams like the Brave Warriors and the Brave Gladiators have been forced to play home games abroad, mostly in South Africa.
In June last year, it was reported that the Namibia Football Association (NFA) pays about N$1.4 million per match to host games in South Africa.
The Brave Warriors are scheduled to play Equatorial Guinea in a World Cup qualifier in South Africa today.
The team currently sits in second place in Group H with 11 points, following a 1-0 victory over Malawi last Thursday. Tunisia leads the group with 13 points.
