The Namibia Sports Commission is defending the nomination process for the 2026 Namibian Sports Awards amid concerns over whether all eligible athletes and teams were nominated.
The Commission’s PR and Marketing officer, Givean Samulandela, said that while deadlines must be respected, a validation process will help identify possible omissions before nominations are submitted to the adjudication panel.
Questions were raised during the final days of the nomination period over the number of entries received, with reports that submissions remained low heading into the closing week.
With nominations now closed, Samulandela said federations must take responsibility for meeting the prescribed deadlines.
“Rules must be followed. Unfortunately, federations, sports bodies, the media, journalists and everyone else have deadlines. If you miss your deadline, your story is not going through for that day. You have to wait for tomorrow or any other time when that is available.”
He added that the extensions would only be considered in exceptional circumstances, such as when athletes or teams are away competing in international competitions.
The Commission is also assessing whether athletes who achieved notable results may have been overlooked because their federations failed to nominate them.
Samulandela said the validation process allows officials to compare the nominations received with achievements recorded during the period under review.
“During the validation period, we are going to check Federation A. We have your report: you went to competition B in this particular country, country X. You got a gold medal. Also, if I have to use an example, the Gladiators: you went to COSAFA Women. You won the championship, but we don’t see your entry here.”
He further said the validation process can identify gaps between what athletes and teams achieved and what their federations submitted.
Adding that federations may sometimes choose not to nominate competitors because they believe they have little chance of winning.
Such cases can be investigated before the nominations are referred to the adjudication panel.
“Through the validation process, we engage the federation involved to establish the reason why that particular athlete, team, sports body, competitor or administrator was not nominated. After establishing that, then we send through the files to the adjudication panel.”
The awards process will now move into validation and adjudication, where nominations will be assessed against sporting achievements.
For athletes and teams who may have been overlooked at federation level, the Commission said the validation process provides an opportunity for their achievements to be considered.