Vusumuzi Dube
Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
NAMIBIA’S decision to host the Warriors in a closed-door match tomorrow has left Zimbabwean football fans disappointed.
Many had already made plans to travel to South Africa to catch the back-to-back 2025 Afcon qualifiers between the Warriors and the Brave Warriors.
Some fans were set to leave for Johannesburg today ahead of the match at Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
However, following Zifa’s announcement on Monday that their opponents had requested that no supporters be allowed into the stadium for their first encounter, the travellers have been forced to reschedule their itineraries.
Despite both teams using Orlando Stadium for the back-to-back duels, the Brave Warriors are technically the home team for the first match and will reverse the roles for the second game, which will be played on Monday.
Richard Sande, a prominent supporter of both CAPS United and the national team, has criticised Namibia’s tactics, accusing them of resorting to cheap mind games to secure a win at all costs.
Namibia is the only team in Group J, which also includes Cameroon and Kenya, yet to collect a point.
“Honestly, I am disappointed with the decision to shut the supporters out. I don’t take it as a technical problem or something else but those are the kind of mind games we faced in the past when we played teams, especially from west Africa.
“But you can see the same tactics are now coming to this side of the continent. As fans, we had prepared to travel to South Africa to cheer the guys and we had prepared to spend about five days in South Africa for both matches.
“Anyway, we encourage our players and technical staff to prepare very well to work under those kinds of conditions, to get a positive result.
“I also think that Zifa should have opposed this request by Namibia if it was possible, but there is nothing that can be done now,” said Sande.
Zifa made an announcement on Monday that left many fans perplexed.
The Brave Warriors, Namibia’s national football team, had requested that no supporters be allowed into the stadium for their upcoming game. Despite this request, the reason behind the decision remained unclear.
However, sources suggest that a lack of financial resources for stadium security and other overhead costs related to hosting big crowds might be the driving factor.
Namibia have already lost two matches to Cameroon and Kenya and are under immense pressure to win their next game, no matter the cost.
This pressure includes forfeiting the revenue anticipated from Zimbabweans, who were expected to attend the game en masse.
The Namibian team may also fear that Zimbabwe supporters will give their own team an edge by acting as the 12th player.
It is worth noting that a lot of Zimbabweans live in South Africa, raising expectations of a large turnout at the game. Warriors’ cheerleader and Zimbabwe National Soccer Supporters Association organising secretary, Chris “Romario” Musekiwa, described the Namibian team’s decision as “hostile”.
“Warriors fans are equally baffled by the Namibian Football Association’s decision. The reason behind this decision is yet to be known,” he said.
“However, the Warriors should not be demoralised by this decision and we urge them to crush their opponents on Thursday. We hope for an even better result in the home fixture as supporters are surely going to attend in their numbers to cheer the Warriors,” said Musekiwa.
Long-time Warriors supporter Matthias Kufandirimbwa said Namibia demonstrated double standards as they hosted Kenya at the same venue last month without fan restrictions.
“It just goes to show that the so-called Brave Warriors are afraid of the game. How can they deny Zimbabwean fans an opportunity to witness such an encounter?
“The Namibian Football Association should have fans at heart because football is played to entertain the fans, apart from just playing to win. That was a very bad and uninformed decision on their part,” said Kufandirimbwa.
ZNSSA secretary-general, Joseph Matawu, said the NFA could be playing mind games to unsettle Zimbabwe, who they know had pinned hopes on a big constituency of supporters in South Africa.
“Of course, we feel disenfranchised by this decision, considering that a lot of our countrymen reside in Johannesburg and could have cheered their team on.
“This was going to motivate and provide moral support for the team in this crucial Afcon qualifier. I think Namibia have acted in fear of numbers.
“Besides being a competition, football is also a form of entertainment and l think Namibians have let a lot of football lovers down. They’re the home team, it’s their decision and there is nothing we can do about it, but the truth is that we are not happy about it,” said Matawu.
Online Reporter