Chan won't affect Samaria's contract review – NFA

TOIVO NDJEBELAWINDHOEKNamibia's shambolic performance in the ongoing Chan competition will not play a major role in whether to extend the contracts of the Brave Warriors' technical team, including that of head coach Bobby Samaria, when they expire in March. This is according to the president of the Namibia Football Association (NFA), Ranga Haikali, who told Namibian Sun's 'The Evening Review' show on Friday that the NFA executive committee (exco) would have a holistic review of the contracts to reach a final decision.Haikali spoke after Namibia lost 3-0 to Guinea, but the team went on to lose again on Saturday night to Tanzania, with the East Africans emerging 1-0 victors. Zambia match, dead rubberThe Brave Warriors' match against neighbours Zambia on Wednesday is a dead rubber for the Namibians, who at this point in time are out of the competition as they are rooted at the bottom of Group D without a point – and without a goal.Zambia and Guinea both have four points and Tanzania – after drilling the final nail in Namibia's coffin – are on three points.The current technical team, where Samaria is deputised by former Kaizer Chiefs great Robert Nauseb, are contracted to the Warriors until 31 March.“I cannot predict what exco's stance will be when the contracts expire,” Haikali said on Friday.He said NFA is not naïve to the fact that any gap in the deployment of technical staff for the Brave Warriors may adversely affect Namibia's charge for the 2022 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) slated for Cameroon, said Haikali.“We still have Afcon qualifier matches against Guinea and Chad, so we need a technical team in place,” he noted. Chan not yardstick for performance“Chan is not to be used as yardstick on whether to renew the contracts of the current technical team or not. We have to broadly consider what were the other challenges – including the fact that we do not have an active domestic league.“We have international players who are doing very well for their foreign clubs but they do not qualify to play in Chan.”To create a good pool of candidates for the technical positions, Haikali said NFA may consider opening up the recruitment process so that they attract the very best.“We may invite other interested coaches – both local and international - to register their interest.”Samaria said qualifying Namibia for Chan would be his biggest achievement in charge of the national team. Beating South Africa away late last year would also rank high on his CV, although the match was a friendly with no substantive importance.

Chan won't affect Samaria's contract review – NFA

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-04-10

Please login to leave a comment

Chan won't affect Samaria's contract review – NFA

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-04-10

Please login to leave a comment

Login