Brave Gladiators star Zenatha Coleman has again blasted the Namibia Football Association (NFA) for treating women’s football as an afterthought.
The influential player took to social media to give a scathing synopsis of the poor conditions they continue to endure, following their 4-0 aggregate elimination from the Olympic qualifiers by Morocco on Tuesday.
It is the second such outburst by the Fenerbache forward, who last year made herself unavailable for the 2022 Cosafa Cup campaign. She, however, had a change of heart after holding crisis talks with the NFA and helped the side finish fourth at the competition.
Chief among the latest issues is poor planning around their home match, which was staged in Marrakesh last week, by the association and put the homeless Gladiators at a great disadvantage, Coleman said.
That match, like Tuesday’s clash, ended 2-0 in favour of Morocco.
In September, the Gladiators also faced Gambia in Morocco over two legs in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) qualifiers, with Namibia emerging 5-2 aggregate victors.
However, the Young Gladiators endured a torrid time against the Republic of Congo earlier this month. They played both matches in Brazzaville, losing 1-0 and 3-0.
For over three years, Namibia’s national teams have been forced to play their home matches abroad due to substandard sport infrastructure in the country.
Unlike their women counterparts, the Brave Warriors play their home matches in South Africa.
“NFA you are killing our dreams. We played our home game in Morocco [at] 19h00. You never consulted the coach about the time, hence you know we could play in an earlier time knowing our weather and conditions. But you agreed (always saying yes to everything) with the Moroccan federation because they paid for everything,” Coleman posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday night.
“Everything was a disadvantage to us from the start. We played against the home team, their fans and especially the referees. These results could have been different if you cared a little bit about women’s football and these Brave Gladiators,” she charged.
“Apparently they are cutting costs, that’s what NFA said. You don’t even pay us a lot, our salary is N$12 000, a N$6 000 for each match. So, please rather let us play without that money and we play our matches in South Africa,” Coleman continued.
“We have an important Wafcon qualifier in three weeks time against Ghana and I believe and trust in this team for possible qualification. I am extremely proud of my girls and the technical team.”
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