The 2012 FIFA Football Seminar that was scheduled for 19 May in Windhoek has been postponed due unforeseen circumstances.
The Seminar was set to bring several women football experts from the Eastern and Southern Africa regions as well as FIFA delegates to Windhoek for a period of three days.
Namibia also hosted a similar seminar before in 2006 which led to widespread recognition.
According to NFA co-ordinator of women's football Jackey Gertze, the November 2006 seminar paved the way for the development structures in women’s football that have thus far won local, regional and international recognition and are used by FIFA as case studies that others can emulate.
In 2010, the Gals & Goals development project won the Governing Federation of the Year award at the Beyond Sport Awards. The project encourages positive influence to the lives of young Namibian girls, using football to deter risk behaviours associated with the spread of HIV in Namibia.
Gertze said that it was the FIFA recommendations after the 2006 seminar that were then adopted by the NFA executive under John Muinjo after his 2005 elections victory.
“That seminar provided us with guidelines on how to ensure that our structures are well off and beneficial and today, we have to thank such a platform that was availed to us to realise our dreams and set standards that others can only dream of. We had a dream and FIFA helped us structure it and monitor its fruition,” Gertze said.
A total 14 countries were represented in 2006 namely Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe and the host Namibia.
FIFA have now requested the NFA to suggest a new date for later this year on which the seminar can be held and the NFA is busy consulting stakeholders before they can revert back to FIFA.
Some of the topics such a seminar will cover, according to Gertze, are issues of marketing and promotion, communications and competitions management within women’s football.