Forum recommendations to shape Sports Act review
Recommendations from the Association of Sport Performance Centres (ASPC) Africa Continental Forum in Swakopmund will feed into the ongoing review of the Sports Act of 2003, deputy sports minister Dino Ballotti said on Thursday.
Ballotti officially opened the forum and the 2026 Namibia Sport Expo at the Dome on behalf of the ministry.
“Whatever you recommend today and tomorrow matters. It will shape the law that governs our sport for the next decade,” he told delegates.
He cited cricket as one example of why the legislation needs to be reviewed.
According to Ballotti, cricket officials told the ministry that the Act prevents a player who moved to Namibia at the age of three from representing the national team because he was not born in the country.
“That is only one example of a dated Act that we are working hard to reform,” said Ballotti.
He urged delegates to put forward recommendations that can be implemented.
“Don’t just tell us to build more,” he said.
Funding
Ballotti also called on federations to secure at least one funding partnership outside government during their next planning cycle.
“Government alone cannot sufficiently or adequately fund all the sports federations,” he said.
He said Treasury’s allocation to sport remains open to debate, adding that athletes’ results help the ministry make a stronger case for increased funding during the mid-term review and in the next financial year.
According to Ballotti, the Namibian National Olympic Committee is engaging the oil and gas sector in efforts to establish a high-performance centre and secure long-term private investment ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
“We are not here with a begging bowl. We are here to showcase an opportunity,” he told business leaders.
He pointed to the Desert Jewels’ qualification for the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, saying it was achieved through a partnership with Debmarine Namibia rather than government funding.
Ballotti said 61 federations are registered with the Namibia Sport Commission, 32 of which are Olympic codes.
“The forum is not a side event to the Expo. It is the reason why we are here,” he said.
Continental
ASPC Africa Chapter vice-president Steven Ball said it is the first African continental forum to be held since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the first time, the association is holding forums on three continents in the same year, with events in Portugal, Guatemala and Swakopmund.
Ball said the Dome has been an ASPC member for five years.
He said Africa’s population of about 1.5 billion is projected to reach almost 2.5 billion by 2050, according to United Nations projections, while the continent’s median age is about 19 compared with more than 40 in Europe.
“The question is not whether that talent exists. The question is whether the rest of the world is ready for it,” said Ball.
He told administrators that meaningful change can sometimes be as simple as paying coaches on time and publishing selection criteria when they are due.
Namibia Sport Commission chief administrator Dr Freddy Mwiya said about 40 federations registered for the event, while the chairpersons of all 14 regional sport structures were invited. He said 117 podium-performing athletes were also invited.
“Every conference we run must not become business as usual. It must have an impact,” he said.
The expo started in Benin in 2019 and has been hosted in partnership with the Dome under an agreement signed in 2022. This year’s event is the seventh edition.
