By Michael Uugwanga

FIFA’s technical expert John Kaputa has revealed plans to propose to the world football governing body a new artificial turf for the Namibia Football Association (NFA) technical center. 

This, he says, is due to the fact that the current turf at the center is dilapidated and outdated. 
Kaputa indicated this in an interview with Confidente recently, where he maintained that the current turf has been used for more than a decade now and has outlived its lifespan. 

The turf was installed with the purpose of serving as a training facility for national teams, but today the turf is being used to accommodate football, in particular top tier women football leagues, the FNB Women Super League and Khomas Second Division, while some men teams uses the turf as their training ground.

“This one has expired, because it has surpassed its 10 year term life. I will make a recommendation to the FIFA foundation to do something.  [So that] football in Namibia is played on a better surface. I will not promise but I will try,” said Kaputa.
Namibia is currently faced with a shortage of football facilities and adequate training grounds or surface to play football despite a promise made by Government that the State will construct football stadiums in most parts of the country. The stadiums are expected to meet the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) standards.

As it stands, the country does not have a stadium to host international matches, which leads to Namibia playing its home matches abroad since 2021. This follows a ban by CAF, as the two international stadiums in Windhoek, the Sam Nujoma Stadium and the Independence Stadiums, were  declaired not fit to host international matches.

Budgetary provisions remains the biggest challenge in the renovation of stadiums, although Government has allocated money for the construction of stadiums. Procurement processes are recorded to be a problem over the years, resulting in the delays in renovation, notably, at the Independence Stadium which belongs to Government and the Sam Nujoma Stadium that is owned by the City of Windhoek.

Kaputa added: “FIFA will come here in Namibia to see the state of the turf. It will be done by a local contractor. FIFA will bring the rubber (artificial turf).”