Namibia: Top-flight football returns after three-year hiatus but concerns remain

League football may have finally returned to Namibia this weekend after a three-season hiatus caused by wrangling between officials, but there are fears the length of absence has harmed the game in the country.

On Sunday, a disputed late penalty gave African Stars a narrow 1-0 victory over University of Namibia in Windhoek in front of a lively crowd, belatedly beginning a new chapter in club football in the southern African country.

A lengthy and damaging power tussle between the Namibia Football Association (NFA) and its professional league affiliate, the Namibia Premier League, at the end of the 2018-19 campaign following a dispute about relegation had led to the three-year break.

“There are real worries about a lost generation,” former Namibia coach Ricardo Mannetti told BBC Sport Africa.

“The worry is what has happened to players who haven’t played for three years. Guys who were 27 are now 30 and young players at 18-19 have lost out on key years of competition and development.”

In charge of the national team when the league stopped, Mannetti keenly felt the harsh impact of local football grinding to a halt as he tried to keep the Brave Warriors competitive.

“We became a club team, meeting for breakfast, training, then having lunch, and training again every day for three months before we went to the African Nations Championship,” he recalls.

“Luckily we had a strong base of players.

“The impact is still to be seen but our Under-23 side conceded eight goals to Angola in the Olympic qualifiers and our Under-20s lost all their games at the qualifying tournament in Eswatini recently.

Mannetti, who left his role in 2019, adds that many of the coaches in Namibia have given up on the game.

“They were making a living from football but once that stopped, they had to go and find work elsewhere.”