WINDHOEK, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Namibia plans to engage the mining sector, financial services industry and retail companies to raise funds to rescue the Namibian Premiership Football League (NPFL) after a major sponsor withdrew, a senior official said on Friday.

In a ministerial statement to Parliament delivered on her behalf, Minister of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sport, Arts and Culture Sanet Steenkamp said the government will work with corporate partners to form a consortium of companies to collectively raise at least 20 million Namibian dollars (about 1.2 million U.S. dollars) to enable the league to resume without delay.

According to Steenkamp, Debmarine Namibia, which invested 49 million Namibian dollars in the NPFL over the past three years, is unable to renew its sponsorship due to economic pressures.

Football is played in all of Namibia's 121 constituencies and remains one of the country's most popular sports.

"Football is the hope for the Namibian children, it is the inspiration for our youth and it is the glue that binds our social fabric. It is therefore our collective responsibility to ensure that football continues," she said.

The NPFL, Namibia's top-flight men's football competition organized by the Namibia Football Association, resumed in 2021 after a three-year suspension over governance and sponsorship disputes and features clubs from across the country as the main pathway for players to join the national team, the Brave Warriors. ■