Category: Sports

WINDHOEK: A group of six amateur boxers have been given another opportunity to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, after Namibia failed to secure a spot at last year’s championships in Dakar, Senegal.

All hopeful amateur boxers who were unable to qualify for the Paris, Olympic Games will participate in the 2024 World Qualification Tournament in Busto Arsizio, Italy, set for 29 February to 12 March 2024.

During the sending-off ceremony held here on Wednesday, Joan Smit, the secretary-general (SG) of the Namibia National Olympic Committee (NNOC), said that boxing has always represented the country at the Olympic Games and they are looking forward to seeing the young athletes secure slots for the upcoming 2024 Olympic Qualifiers.

‘Last year we sent a team to Dakar, Senegal for the same purpose, but they could not secure us slots. For this reason, the team is being given another chance to compete in Italy,’ she said.

Smit stated that they selected Italy as the location because they want the athletes
to have sufficient time to prepare for the Olympics after qualifying.

‘There are only two scheduled qualifying championships this year, in Italy and Thailand. That’s why we are going to this one in Italy. As you know, boxing is a combat sport, and if boxers get injured, they should have enough time to recover and prepare well for the Olympics,’ she noted.

The SG further pointed out that the boxers will face tough competition as many who couldn’t qualify for the Olympic Games in 2023 will be competing at these championships.

‘The amateur boxing federation has selected the best team and we are hopeful that the boxers will qualify and represent the country at the Olympics, just like in the past. We are confident that the young athletes are physically, physiologically, and mentally prepared to perform well for their country in these championships in Italy,’ she said.

The boxers include Jonas Junius Jonas, Gebhard Ipinge, Tryagain Ndevelo, Trofinus Johannes, Elifas Shailemo, and Petrus Nghishongwa. The coachin
g staff will consist of Albertus Tsamaseb and Titus Muunda Joseph.

The team is scheduled to depart for Italy on 28 February to return on 15 March 2024.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Cape Town City Football Club chairperson, John Comitis has stated that their interest in signing Namibian international player, Prins Tjiueza, has been put on hold due to an injury.

During the just-ended African Cup of Nations (AFCON) round of 16 match between Namibia and Angola at the Stadium of Peace in Bouake, Ivory Coast, Tjiueza was stretchered off the field just 17 minutes into the game.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder who plies for KF Liria Prizren, a First Football League team in Kosovo, underwent medicals this week as he was expected to pen a new deal with the South African Premier League club.

On Monday, it was revealed on social media that the Namibian footballer’s transfer to Cape Town City was cancelled due to failed medicals.

In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Comitis said that Tjiueza sustained an injury while representing his country and is expected to recover in three months.

‘The deal couldn’t be completed as we realised that the injury seemed to be more serious than
we expected. As a club we were interested in the player’s services as he is still young and one that can fit in our plans, but his injury affected that,’ he said.

He added that although they have not committed to a transfer, they wish the player a speedy recovery and will consider a deal in the future.

‘As it stands, he is still a player of Liria Prizren and he has age on his side. We hope he will recover fast, and we might still relook at that deal,’ Comitis said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

By Biwah Bryan

From a rocky start to an incredible finish, the Elephants of Ivory Coast overcame a deficit in the finals, beat Nigeria 2-1 to win the 2023 AFCON title.

Ivory Coast had a cheeky start, but found themselves trailing after Nigeria’s captain William Troost netted a header early in the second half to serve Nigeria a 1-0 lead.

With a few substitutes, Ivory Coast came knocking and found an equalizer in the 62nd minute when Frank Kessie returned the favor to Nigeria with a header from a corner kick.

Buoyed by the equalizer, Ivory Coast continued to attack and finally found their winning goal courtesy of a Sebastien Haller strike after he was brilliantly set up by Simon Adingra’s pass.

This victory marks Ivory Coast’s third AFCON title and makes them the first home country to win the title since Egypt in 2006.

Their victory is an achievement for a team who were on the brink of elimination in the group stage after suffering a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea.

Source: Cameroon News Agenc
y

KEETMANSHOOP: Karasburg-based Young Brazilians (YB) on Sunday beat Orlando Pirates, 2-1 during their 19th game of the Debmarine Namibia Premiership 2023/2024 campaign at Keetmanshoop.

Quinton van Staden scored YB Football Club’s first goal five minutes into the first half while Jonny Ortner scored Pirates’ goal in the 13th minute of the first half.

With four minutes to half time, the boys from Karasburg were reduced to 10 men after Olphin Ngxabi was sent off the pitch with a red card following a foul on a Pirate.

Both teams in the second half displayed high football skills and in the 90th minute, YB scored their second goal. The goal was scored by Pollen Rooi.

Meanwhile YB on Saturday drew 0-0 with African Stars.

Both games took place at Keetmanshoop’s Westdene Stadium. The boys from Karasburg showed much determination to stop the league defeating champions from conceding goals.

Coming into the game YB had to prove a point as they lost 10-0 in their last game against Stars.

In an interview with Nampa o
n Saturday after the game, YB head coach Galiel Pelwan unable to contain his joy said: ‘Yes we are happy, a team like Stars… to get a point one should be happy as normally you can get nothing.’

He added: ‘As a coach you do not need to motivate the players because it is a big team and a good team and that in itself motivates the players. Stars is a very good team, ahead of this game I told the boys that we need to suffocate them and not give them room to play because if one is not careful they will hurt you and that is what we did today and in the end, it worked for us, from here on we can work on it.’

African Stars coach Mervin Mbakera said: ‘First game from the break there are always difficulties because the muscle memory for the players is now starting to be activated. In terms of the game tempo, in terms of the speed of thought on the pitch, you can see that there were a lot of unforced errors, decision-making of the players was also not the best. These guys are human, they will pick it up, a point away,
yes we wanted three points, unfortunately, we did not get it but we marched on.’

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

By Biwah Bryan

From a rocky start to an incredible finish, the Elephants of Ivory Coast overcame a deficit in the finals, beat Nigeria 2-1 to win the 2023 AFCON title.

Ivory Coast had a cheeky start, but found themselves trailing after Nigeria’s captain William Troost netted a header early in the second half to serve Nigeria a 1-0 lead.

With a few substitutes, Ivory Coast came knocking and found an equalizer in the 62nd minute when Frank Kessie returned the favor to Nigeria with a header from a corner kick.

Buoyed by the equalizer, Ivory Coast continued to attack and finally found their winning goal courtesy of a Sebastien Haller strike after he was brilliantly set up by Simon Adingra’s pass.

This victory marks Ivory Coast’s third AFCON title and makes them the first home country to win the title since Egypt in 2006.

Their victory is an achievement for a team who were on the brink of elimination in the group stage after suffering a humiliating 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea.

Source: Cameroon News Agenc
y

WINDHOEK: Head coach of Khomas NamPol Football Club, Gareth Fortune Eichab said that despite their three-point lead at the top of the Debmarine Namibia Premiership over the weekend, his team cannot yet be considered a title contender.

Khomas NamPol, who are currently at the top of the Premier League standings, have successfully collected maximum points during their rounds of 16 and 17 fixtures of the second round.

They won against Orlando Pirates and African Stars, which helped them move three points clear of defending champions African Stars on Sunday.

African Stars, who went into the weekend as log leaders, only managed to collect one point from their two-weekend fixtures and are now second on the log with 37 points from 17 Premier League fixtures completed so far.

In an interview with Nampa after their Sunday match against African Stars, Eichab expressed his satisfaction with the game but acknowledged that his team had a long way to go.

‘What a game! Two top teams cancelling each other out. I can now
say we’ve survived the relegation battle, having secured 40 points,’ he said.

He added that although they have had a good season so far, they are not yet contenders for the Premier League title.

‘We have some very tough games ahead of us. Now we need to review and set targets for ourselves because since the beginning of the season, our goal has been to avoid relegation,’ Eichab said.

Eichab stated that as newcomers to the Debmarine Namibia Premiership, they are going to fight in every game as good results will take them to where they want to be.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

WINDHOEK: Debmarine Namibia Premiership team Khomas NamPol took the lead in the Premiership table on Sunday after defeating log leaders African Stars with a 2-0 scoreline at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.

Nampol, who entered the country’s top league at the onset of the 2023/24 Premier League season, became the first team to reach 40 points in the 17 league fixtures played thus far in the season.

At the Independence Stadium in the capital on Sunday, NamPol scored the opening goal just 18 minutes into the match through Denzil Haoseb.

African Stars attempted every strategy to score, but Khomas NamPol’s sturdy defence made it challenging. The first half concluded with Khomas NamPol leading 1-0.

In the second half, Khomas NamPol sustained their attacking momentum from the first half and netted another goal in the 75th minute. Terry Uiseb was fouled by African Stars substitute Jackson Johannes in the box, and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Uiseb successfully converted the penalty kick, extending the
ir lead to 2-0.

African Stars endeavoured to score a consolation goal immediately after Uiseb’s goal but failed in their attempt as the NamPol goalkeeper made a double save to deny Lazarus Kaimbi and Ibroihim Youssouf from finding the back of the net.

With Sunday’s victory, Khomas NamPol ascended to the top of the table, becoming the first club to reach 40 points this season. Meanwhile, African Stars dropped to second place with only 37 points, garnering just one point from their two matches over the weekend.

FC Ongos currently occupies third place on the league table with 33 points from 16 matches played this season. Blue Waters sits in fourth place with 28 points from 18 matches. Meanwhile, Eeshoke Chula Chula managed to secure three points out of a possible six over the weekend and is now in fifth place with 28 points.

Clubs at risk of relegation include Orlando Pirates, who languish at the bottom of the log with only eight points from 17 matches. Life Fighters, with 11 points, currently occupying 15th
place, and Civics in 14th place with 13 points from 17 matches.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Cameroon will be hosting the 2024 edition of the African Athletics Championship in Douala come June 2024.

The historic decision was unanimously reached during the Confederation of African Athletics Council meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia, in April 2023.

Following the footsteps of Mauritius in 2022, Douala, the economic capital of Cameroon, has been selected to host the 23rd edition of Africa’s premier athletics competition from June 15th to 25th, 2024.

The choice of Douala, often referred to as the ‘city of sunshine,’ by the Confederation of African Athletics, stems from its cosmopolitan nature and the strategic location of the iconic Réunification Stadium at the heart of the city. Also considering the proximity of the competition venue to several international standard hotels and healthcare facilities.

With athletes of African origin who represent 40 to 45% of the global athletics elite set to compete, the championship will be taking place just a month before the Paris Olympics, scheduled for July-August
2024.

The 2024 African Athletics Championship DOUALA 2024 is expected to garner participation from 54 countries, over 3,500 visitors including athletes, administrators, medical personnel, technical officials, and journalists.

Cameroon was originally designated to host the 2022 African Athletics Championship in Douala, but was stripped of its hosting rights after delays in confirming the proposed date by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA).

Cameroon’s previous opportunity to host the prestigious event was would have marked the country’s second time hosting. The first instance was in 1996 during the 10th edition held from June 13 to 16 at the Yaounde Omnisports Stadium. The decision for Cameroon to host the 2022 edition was made during a meeting of the CAA on September 24, 2019. in Doha.

The Réunification Stadium of Bepanda-Douala is perceived as the ideal venue to participate in and witness the 24th African Athletics Championship, promising an unforgettable experience for athletes, officials, and
spectators alike.

Source: Cameroon News Agency