• By Michael Uugwanga

THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) has revealed that it does not have the budget to hold a glittering ceremony for the 2025 Debmarine Premiership and the FNB Women Super League (WSL).

The FNB WSL is expected to end on either June 7 or 8, while the Debmarine Premiership will also end in June. 
NFA’s league director, Mabos Vries in an interview with Confidente this week, explained that the football management body does not have money for a ceremony but rather a small awards event. 

The last two seasons, neither the Debmarine Premiership nor the FNB WSL held award ceremonies. 
“There will be an award on the final day in each league. Those things (award ceremonies) comes with funds [and] if you do not have a budget you cannot do that. Yes, there will be three categories (player of the season, goalkeeper of the season and top scorer awards),” explained Vries.

In the FNB WSL, FC Ongos midfielder Memory Ngonda is topping the score chart with 38 league goals and could win both the top scorer and player of the season awards. Beauties FC’s veteran striker Stella Last Born Williams, who led Beauties FC to the title, is another candidate for the player of the season award, including her teammates Fiola ‘Halaand’ Vliet, Millicent Hikuam, Mbakondja Kahiriri and goalkeeper Mellissa Matheus.

Other players in the mix for the player of the season award are African Stars’ Vanessa Kanyama and Anna-Ida Somses. Both players helped their team to occupy third place this season on the log.  V-Power Angels’ Nancy Lebang has been a sensation, while UNAM Bokkies goal machine Muhinantjo Hanavi had a good season. 

Goalkeeper of the season will be contested between Beauties FC and national team number one stopper, Mellissa Matheus and African Stars Queens’ goalkeeper, Laurinda Mateus, who hails from Angola.  Matheus played 20 matches, 13 clean sheets, conceded only nine league matches.

On the other hand, Mateus kept 10 clean sheets and only conceded seven goals the whole season, with two stoppers going head-to-head on the last day. Beauties FC will be awarded a cheque amounting to N$250 000 in prize monies for winning the league.

In the Debmarine Premiership, African Stars player Mbakondja Tjahikika is topping the goal chart with 14 league goals, followed by Khomas NamPol’s Nguzu Salazar with 13 goals. 

African Stars goalkeeper Mervin ‘Lukaku’ Kasetura is favourite for the best goalkeeper award, while the player of the season award looks like it will go to Tjahikika, depending on whether African Stars will win the league title. African Stars are currently topping the league with 53 points, followed by Young African with 49 points  and three matches to go. The winning team will pocket N$800 000 in prize money.