EDITORIAL: Football rivalry or simmering tribalism?

Ohangwena-based football club Eeshoke Chula Chula has brought swagger and great hype to Namibian football – perhaps mostly due to its meteoric rise and humble origins.

But with this rise has come envy from some quarters, which in recent months has slowly transcended into subtle tribal rivalry. To be clear, the emotive, tribally-infused social media exchanges between Aawambo and non-Aawambo fans is not a creation of Eeshoke or their new rivals African Stars. Barry Rukoro, the former secretary-general of the Namibia Football Association, stoked the fires in October when he implied that Eeshoke was a ‘Wambo project’ tailor-made to destroy Ovaherero’s perceived hegemony on local football. He warned his tribesmen to take Eeshoke’s ascension with a pinch of salt, suggesting that there are more than just football motives at play. Since then, Rukoro has become a point of reference – and a goldmine for social media memes – whenever Eeshoke kicks a ball. This has galvanised some sort of tribal solidarity from both sets of fans, which we fear might morph into potentially violent altercations down the road.

If all the current noise and rivalry was strictly about football, devoid of tribal undertones and envy, our game would be in for some exciting days ahead. Eeshoke, a football infant that can barely crawl, doesn’t deserve to be caught in this unsavoury web. And neither do African Stars, a traditional but modern football club with enviable structures in place and high semi-professional standards that others should emulate.