Namibian team sent forth to Maputo - All Africa Games 2011

The Namibian team that will compete at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique received an official sendoff at the Ministry of Sport's headquarters in Windhoek on Thursday.

The Deputy Minister of Sport Pohamba Shifeta urged the team members to be good ambassadors for Namibia and to abide by the rules.

"When you put on these colours and tracksuits, you become Namibian ambassadors. We will go there to compete and not just to participate and I'm hopeful that we will finish among the top five countries this time," he said.

The Director of Sport Dr Veii called on the athletes to do their best and to make Namibia proud.

"Remember that you are ambassadors for Namibia. Namibia is a country with a very good reputation and being on this team is a privilege and not an entitlement. You must be one united Namibian team and must not form clicks. Take these Games seriously and take advantage of the opportunities that they present. If you do well, you could qualify for the Olympic Games and then the sky will be the limit," he said.

Namibia will be represented by 38 athletes in eight sporting codes at the AAG.

At Thursday's press conference the chairman of the Local Organising Committee Edelberth Katamba said that tennis had been a late inclusion, while cycling had been dropped.

"We withdrew cycling because the cyclists, Dan Craven and Loto Petrus are participating in Europe. The Namibia Cycling Federation nominated other cyclists but we cant take them because they did not qualify."

"Tennis was a late inclusion because some of their players started to qualify at tournaments and were ranked on the ATP rankings so we brought them on board," he said.

Bantamweight boxer David Mikasiu could not make the trip after he broke his nose during training.

Namibia will be represented in athletics, boxing, paralympics, tennis, triathlon, swimming, chess and karate.

The Namibian team will travel to Maputo on a chartered plane and will depart Hosea Kutako International Airport at 06h30 on Sunday morning.