Isaacs won’t quit Civics, despite pending FIFA ruling
By Michael Uugwanga
NAMIBIA’S most decorated club coach Brian Isaacs has no intention of walking away from Civics FC even if they find themselves relegated to the first division as his club and Orlando Pirates still await a final decision from the world football governing body (FIFA) on the matter.
The Namibia Premier League (NPL) is still on hold pending a final decision from FIFA on the relegations and promotion saga that has been dragging on for months now, because of differences between the NPL leadership and the Namibia Football Association (NFA) over whether teams will be relegated following last season’s campaign.
Civics finished in 14th position while Orlando Pirates in 15th position were set to be relegated by the NPL, but the move was not welcomed by the NFA due to the dormancy of the first division last season, meaning there were no teams promoted from the lower division to replace them.
However, the NPL secretariat under the leadership of Patrick Kauta has made it clear that they opted to go with 13 clubs in the NPL in the coming soccer season that is set to start next month.
Another club facing the axe from the NPL is Young African FC, who were demoted to the first division in January after they were found guilty on two counts of fraud and the use of an ineligible player in a case that has dragged on from last season.
Isaacs has won the NPL title six times with Tigers (once), Black Africa (four times) and Orlando Pirates (once), including two NFA Cups with Pirates. He is also the technical director of the Namibia women’s national team, the Brave Gladiators.
Speaking to Confidente this week, Isaacs – who is yet to conduct training with Civics – said he is fully committed to the club and has no intention of walking away, despite FIFA ruling on the future of Civics.
One of the new recruits at Civics is Brave Warriors kingpin Wangu Gome, who returns to Namibian football this season following his recent release by former club Cape Umoya United in the national first division in South Africa.
“I have no intention of walking away from Civics. I just want to turnaround things for the club in the forthcoming season. Why must I leave Civics? We still have players who are contracted and some are here on loan. We have not started yet with training, because we are still waiting for the outcome.
“Even if they are relegated I will still be the coach. We cannot start with training because the players would want to be paid, as they argued that they are working when training. Some players live outside Windhoek and they do rent when they come to Windhoek. It is not only us but other clubs are in the same situation as we are in,” Isaacsobserved.
A former Brave Warriors coach, Isaacs is also a full-time employee in the Ministry of Health and Social Services and was also technical director of Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW)’s various junior teams, andwas asked to help coach SKW’s senior team in the first division last season.
Despite his vast experience in the local game that saw him winning all that silverware at club level, Isaacs never had a chance to try his luck coaching in countries such as Angola, Zimbabwe or South Africa.
“I was never the coach of SKW but was just called in to help out, because at the time the coach was not doing well. I did think of coaching in South Africa, Angola or Botswana, but I had to think about my family first since I am a human resource practitioner at the Ministry of Health. I could not go to South Africa to coach because they have no respect for our players,” Isaacs explained.