Namibia Football Association (NFA) president Robert Shimooshili has expressed disappointment with Namibia's failure to qualify for the Fifa World Cup 2026, but painted a bright future for Namibian football.
Namibia's faint chances of qualifying were finally extinguished when they lost 3-1 to Liberia last Thursday and 3-0 to Tunisia on Monday, but Shimooshili says there were contributing factors to their performances throughout the campaign.
"It's sad news, but as we know, Tunisia are ranked much higher than us, and they've had an active league for some time now, so these are all contributing factors," he says.
"We didn't do enough to have an active league, and we previously said our national team will suffer if our players did not have enough game time. But we are working on it and we are positive that our leagues will start on 24 October, as communicated previously," he says.
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Shimooshili also backed national coach Collin Benjamin to continue with his job.
"Of course Collin will remain as the national coach. He has a five-year contract with the NFA which we will honour. People must also remember what Namibia has achieved with him - we have reached the quarter-finals of Afcon for the first time, and we also reached two Cosafa Cup finals, so that is very commendable, even though we now failed to qualify for the world cup," he says.
Benjamin still has about one year and eight months to continue in the hot seat after signing a five-year contract with the NFA in June 2022.
"Now it's back to the drawing board as we prepare for next year's Cosafa Cup, while we are also waiting for the NFA technical department to draw up plans for the national team and possible friendlies," he says.
FIFA RECOGNISES NAMIBIA
Namibian football recently received recognition from Fifa with two appointments to international bodies under its control.
Shimooshili was appointed as a member of the Fifa Football Social Responsibility Programme, while the chairperson of Futsal Namibia, Andrei Tirtirau, was appointed to the Fifa Futsal Committee.
Shimooshili says it is an honour for the country and not for him personally.
"It is up to the Namibian people to decide how they feel about it, because I was appointed on behalf of the Namibian people, so it's an achievement for the whole country, but I'll fulfil my duties to the utmost of my abilities," he says.
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Shimooshili says the welfare of former players and administrators is high on his list of tasks.
"Fifa as an institution has to contribute to the social welfare of its members and communities, and there are a lot of social needs in Namibian football, especially with regard to the welfare of former players and administrators. The players gave us, the fans, exciting football during their playing careers, and now many of them are suffering, so we are looking at ways to assist them," he says.
Regarding the upgrading of Namibian football stadiums, Shimooshili says Sam Nujoma Stadium should take about a year to complete.
"The City of Windhoek is hard at work and trying to speed up the renovation process of Sam Nujoma Stadium so that the national team can play there as soon as possible," he says.
"They are also in consultation with CAF regarding facilities like the floodlights and the changing rooms, and how to meet CAF and Fifa requirements.
"It should take about 12 months to fix, and then CAF and Fifa will approve the stadium," he says.
"Independence Stadium, however, is a long-term project, but Sam Nujoma Stadium is a quick solution and I'm happy the City of Windhoek has started with that."
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