Zooming in on the Tafel Lager sponsorship

The Namibia Breweries sponsorship of a South African rugby outfit has been met with mixed reactions in the past days. Rightly so, some Namibians, including the main opposition party, DTA, have strongly criticised the sponsorship deal. It must be said that the sponsorship comes at a very difficult time for Namibia sport. It has been a torrid two years for local sportsmen and women and there appears to be no end in sight. The sport challenges are huge. With government unable to honour its financial obligation to various sporting codes due to budget cuts at the ministry of sport, the sector finds itself in a crisis of epic proportions. Football, the number one sport in the country, has not been spared and sponsors like MTC have actually ditched the Namibia Premier League (NPL) after the latter failed to get another sponsor on board. So it is a very sensitive period for Namibia sport in general and we do sympathise with those who have been vocal against the Tafel Lager sponsorship to the Griquas. NBL has argued that the move to sponsor the Griquas was an opportunity to establish the Tafel Lager brand in South Africa. However, many feel that the company was supposed to prove that charity begins at home by rescuing stranded sporting codes in the country in a form of a sponsorship. It is correct that the NBL reserves the right to sponsor whoever it deems fit. It is not our place to dictate to them how they should invest their money. But such an unprecedented sponsorship deal will undoubtedly raise questions. The Tafel Lager sponsorship will not be reversed anymore, but going forward, it is high time that all stakeholders pull in one direction. The government must play a key role in showing strong support to the sector by compelling local companies to invest in sport development. However, we will not be able to attract record levels of corporate funding if sport administration is in shambles. Sponsors want to see a return on their investments. And if we want to see corporate investment flooding into the sports sector we need competent administrators to run sport on sound management principles.