The principal sports in Namibia are football, rugby union, cricket, golf and fishing. Boxing and athletics are also popular. The home stadium for all national teams is Independence Stadium in Windhoek, while Sam Nujoma Stadium in Katutura is also occasionally used.
Football in Namibia is governed by the Namibia Football Association. The Namibia Premier League is the main domestic league. The Namibia national football team has never qualified for the FIFA World Cup, but has won the COSAFA Cup in 2015 and has twice been runners up in the same. They have qualified for two African Cups of Nations, in 1998 and 2008, where they advanced from the first round in 2023.
Rugby union was introduced to Namibia from South Africa in 1916. The main governing body today is the Namibia Rugby Union.
The Namibian national team are commonly known as the Welwitschia. Namibia has made the World Cup on six occasions, in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019 and 2023 but has never won a game. [1]
Until independence, players for Namibia were also eligible to represent South Africa with Namibian born Springboks including Jan Ellis and, more recently, Percy Montgomery. Various players pursue their rugby careers in South Africa and in a number of European countries.
The history of cricket in Namibia is closely linked with South African cricket. After independence, the newly formed Namibian Cricket Board set about developing the game throughout the country, and also arranged visits from various English county teams and The Netherlands. They were granted associate membership of the ICC in 1992. Namibia played six matches in the 2003 World Cup and lost all of them. However they had a credible match against England where they were ahead of the English under the Duckworth-Lewis method for twelve overs and Jan Berrie Burger almost mastered an upset with 85 off 86 balls. Rudi van Vuuren took 5 wickets, and later went on to feature in the Rugby World Cup for Namibia that same year.
Namibia qualified for the ICC World T20 in UAE and Oman in 2021 where the team won its first ever world cup match against Netherlands followed by victory against Ireland to qualify for Super 12s. The victory against Ireland was the first ever win by Namibia against a Full member in an official international match. In the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, Namibia registered their most famous victory by beating Sri Lanka by 55 runs at Geelong. [2] However, they could not the repeat the feat of the 2021 T20 World cup as they lost their next two matches to Netherlands and UAE.
Former South African all-rounder David Wiese is Namibia's most high-profile cricketer and is a regular in various T20 Leagues, most notably in Pakistan Super League where he plays for Lahore Qalandars. In the recently concluded IPL 2023 Auctions, David Wiese was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders.
Except for a few cases, cricket in Namibia has been confined to the Afrikaans and German speaking populations, with the indigenous Africans who constitute 80% of the national population showing hardly any interest.
The most prominent Namibian athlete, and one of the most prominent people in general, is the former sprinter Frankie Fredericks. He is the first Olympic medalist from the country, and won four Olympic silver medals in total. [3] He also became world champion in 1993 and won an additional three silver medal at the World Championships, all in the 200 metres event. He holds the African record in this event with 19.68 seconds, and held the African record in 100 metres until May 2006. [4]
Sprinters Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi attended the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Although disallowed from their favourite 400 metres event due to naturally high testosterone levels, [5] they both ran the 200 metres and qualified for the final, the first female Namibian athletes to do so at the Olympics. [6] Christine Mboma won a silver at Tokyo Olympics 2020 in women's 200m.
Other prominent athletes include middle-distance runner Agnes Samaria and long-distance runner Luketz Swartbooi, as well as paralympic athletes Johanna Benson, Ananias Shikongo, Johannes Nambala, and Reginald Benade.
Namibia waits for its first qualification for the FIBA Africa Championship. Its basketball federation cooperates with the German federation. [7]
There have been several successful Namibian boxers, including Japhet Uutoni (winner of gold medal at 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2006 African Boxing championships), Paulus Ambunda (represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens), Paulus Moses, Harry Simon and Joseph Jermia (represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics as well as winning a bronze medal in the 48 kg weight class in the 2003 All-Africa Games. In March 2008, Namibia hosted the final round of qualifying for the continental tournament of boxing at the 2008 Summer Olympics. [8] As Japhet Uutoni had already qualified for the 2008 Olympics by winning his class in the first round of qualifiers, 2 other Namibian boxers also qualified (Mujandjae Kasuto and Julius Indongo). In January 2009, Paulus Moses defeated Yusuke Kobori of Japan to win the WBA lightweight title. [9]
The most prominent Namibian golfer is Trevor Dodds.
There are 25 Golf courses in Namibia :
 |
The Namibian Equestrian Federation (NAMEF) was founded in 1958 by Mr. E Homan, E. Holtz and I. Voigts. It was originally known as the South West African Horse Society and changed its name to NAMEF after Namibia gained independence from the Republic of South Africa. They are affiliated to the Namibian Sport Commission (NSC), the Namibian National Olympic Committee (NNOC) and the International body Federation Equestrian International (FEI) since 1992, representing the horse sport on a National and International level. [10]
Namibia Equestrian Federation is the official Federation for endurance riding in Namibia. Regular endurance competitions and rides throughout the country are being held under the governance of NAMEF
The Icestocksport Association of Namibia was founded in 2004. The men's team won the Africa Cup on 7 occasion (2005, 2007, 2009, [11] 2015, 2017, [12] [13] 2019, 2022 [14] [15] ). The ladies' team won the Africa Cup in 2013 and 2017. [12] In 2020 the men's team won the silver medal at the World Championship in group B [16] and Bronze in 2022.
Lawn bowls was one of the first sport codes in Namibia to produce a world champion. Douw Calitz was the winner of this title when he emerged victor of the World Champion of Champions tournament in 2003 in Moama, Australia. Some of the major national tournaments include the annual National League, as well as the annual Namibia National Championships. In 2013, Namibia played host to the African States Tournament, a competition featuring seven countries from all over Africa. The National men's side is currently ranked 11th in the world.
The Namibia Sailing Association is the national governing body for the sport of sailing in Namibia, serving at the discretion of the Namibian Sports Commission and recognised by World Sailing.
The following are affiliated members:
Sport in Ireland plays an important role in Irish society. The many sports played and followed in Ireland include Gaelic games, association football, horse racing, show jumping, greyhound racing, basketball, fishing, handball, motorsport, boxing, tennis, hockey, golf, rowing, cricket, and rugby union.
The Uganda national cricket team, nicknamed the Cricket Cranes, is the men's team that represents Uganda in international cricket. The team is organised by the Uganda Cricket Association, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1998.
SuperSport is a South African-based group of television channels carried on the DStv & Canal+ satellite platforms alongside the GOtv terrestrial platform and Showmax Pro for live sports programming. It provides sports content in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and many other African countries.
Sport in Pakistan is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan. Football has also gained popularity in recent years, and is the second most popular sport in the country. Field hockey is the national sport, and was popular for several decades, with some of Pakistan's greatest sporting accomplishments having taken place in this sport, along with squash. Polo and traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played.
Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) – with the first being considered the national sport – in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
Sport has a significant role in South African culture. The three most popular mainstream sports in the country — cricket, football and rugby — reflect the country's early British colonial influence. South Africa was absent from international sport for much of the apartheid era due to sanctions, but started competing globally after the end of apartheid. South Africa is among a very few countries which have participated in world cups of all three major sports — cricket, soccer, and rugby union. England, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia are among other such nations. South Africa has hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Sport in Papua New Guinea is an important part of the national culture. Rugby league is the most popular sport in Papua New Guinea.
Craig George Williams is a Namibian cricketer. He currently runs a cricket shop in Namibia besides working as a quality/quantity surveyor writing reports for insurance companies as well as loss adjusting.
The ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a Twenty20 International tournament run under the auspices of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament served as the final qualifying event for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier was played in early 2012 as a part of the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier series. This edition of the qualifier for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was an expanded version comprising ten qualifiers from regional Twenty20 tournaments, in addition to the six ODI/Twenty20 status countries. It was staged in the UAE.
The Namibia men's national cricket team, nicknamed the Eagles, is the men's team that represents the Republic of Namibia in international cricket. It is organised by Cricket Namibia, which became an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1992.
Sport in Bangladesh is a popular form of entertainment as well as an essential part of Bangladeshi culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Bangladesh followed by football. Ha-du-du is the national sport of Bangladesh.
The 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the seventh ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament, with the matches played in the Oman and United Arab Emirates, on behalf of India, from 17 October to 14 November 2021. The West Indies were the defending champions, but were eventually eliminated in the Super 12 stage.
Merwe Gerhard Erasmus is a Namibian cricketer, and the current captain of the Namibia cricket team.
The 2015 ICC Africa Under-19 Championship was a cricket tournament held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14–20 February 2015.
Zane Edward Green is a Namibian cricketer who made his senior debut for the Namibian national side in September 2013, aged 16.
Sports in Botswana is diverse and reasonably well-developed. Though football, netball and athletics remain the most popular sports, numerous other sporting codes, including cricket, rugby, judo, swimming and tennis are active in the national sporting landscape. The Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), together with the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) and Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MYSC) are responsible for the overall management of sport in the country. In addition, there over 30 National Sport Federations (NSFs) and three school sport federations
The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine the teams that would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finishing highest in the qualifier tournament joined Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the first group stage of the 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. The tournament formed part of the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier series, with the Netherlands winning the final.
The 2019 international cricket season was from May 2019 to September 2019. The 2019 Cricket World Cup in England and Wales took place during this time, starting on 30 May 2019. 10 Test matches, 78 One Day Internationals (ODIs) and 109 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is), as well as 1 Women's Test, 9 Women's One Day Internationals (WODIs) and 130 Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), were played during this period. Additionally, a number of other T20I/WT20I matches were also scheduled to be played in minor series involving associate nations. The season started with India leading the Test cricket rankings, England leading the ODI rankings and Pakistan leading the Twenty20 rankings. On 3 May, the International Cricket Council (ICC) expanded the men's T20I rankings to include all current Full Member and Associate members of the ICC, featuring 80 teams. In the women's rankings, Australia women lead both the WODI and WT20I tables.
The most popular sports in The Bahamas are those of colonial British origin as well as those adopted from neighbouring United States. They include athletics, basketball, baseball, American football, swimming, softball, tennis, boxing, and volleyball.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)