Olympic hopefuls face unclear funding cuts
Namibia’s elite athletes hoping to qualify for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games are caught in a funding tug-of-war, as the sport and finance ministries tiptoe around the reasons behind cuts to their support.
The athletes are part of the Podium Performance Programme (PPP), a first-of-its-kind initiative introduced by the Namibia Sport Commission (NSC), in collaboration with the sport ministry and the Namibia National Olympic Committee, last October.
The PPP comprises 117 of the country’s standout athletes from 13 sport codes and aims to support athletes preparing for major international competitions, including the Olympics.
In the 2025-26 budget, the sport ministry allocated N$7 million to the PPP. However, the NSC indicated that only N$5 million of that amount was disbursed to the programme in March this year.
Additionally, there has been no allocation to the PPP in the 2026-27 budget, despite sport being recognised as the second-priority sector by government.
In earlier reports by this publication, NSC chief administrator Freddy Mwiya raised concern over the lack of funding for the PPP, indicating that an estimated N$50 million per year is required to adequately support elite athletes.
‘Finance has final say’
Sport Wrap reached out to the sport ministry to enquire why PPP funding was reduced from N$7 million to N$5 million, and asked the ministry to comment on the N$50 million required annually for adequate support.
In response, sport ministry executive director Gerard Norman Vries distanced the ministry from the final funding decision, explaining that limited government resources affect allocations.
Vries said the ministry submits its funding needs to the finance ministry, which then considers all government priorities before allocations are made.
“As such, the final allocation to each government project is determined by the Ministry of Finance. In most cases, government projects do not receive their full [requested] funding because of [financial] constraints,” he said.
Sport Wrap further raised the funding reduction with the finance ministry, asking whether the lack of an allocation to the PPP in the current budget was due to insufficient funds to support elite athletes.
Finance pushes back
The finance ministry, through executive director Oscar Capelao, pushed back against the sport ministry’s assertion that Finance makes the final decision on budget allocations.
“The Ministry of Finance and the National Planning Commission hold budget consultations jointly,” he said.
Capelao added that budget allocations are agreed on through wider government consultations.
“[Allocations tabled in Parliament] are consensus decisions approved by the Executive, within available fiscal space. We all must appreciate the available fiscal space and allocation to equally demanding priorities,” he said.
He added that budget allocation limitations are caused by pressure on revenue and high national debt.
“Revenue is under pressure, and our national debt levels are high, based on the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP). [This contradicts] where we would want it to be in the long term for the size of our economy,” he said.
