Namibia Premiership

{{Short description|Top Namibian football division}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2023}}

{{Infobox football league

| name = Namibia Premiership

| logo = Namibia_Premiership_Logo.png

| pixels = 250

| country = {{NAM}}

| organiser = Namibia Football Association

| confed = CAF

| founded = 2020

| first = 2022–23

| folded =

| teams = 16

| relegation = First Division

| levels = 1

| domest_cup = Namibia FA Cup

| confed_cup = CAF Champions League
CAF Confederation Cup

| champions = African Stars (2)

| most successful club = African Stars (2)

| tv =

| website =

| current = 2024–25 Namibia Premiership

}}

The Namibia Premiership, or the Debmarine Namibia Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of domestic association football in Namibia. It operates under the auspices of the Namibia Football Association.{{cite web |title=From Premier League to Premiership: Namibian top-flight league faces turbulence |url=https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/from-premier-league-to-premiership-namibian-top-flight-league-faces-turbulence |publisher=FIFA |access-date=9 July 2023 |archive-date=12 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231012103640/https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/from-premier-league-to-premiership-namibian-top-flight-league-faces-turbulence |url-status=live }}

== History ==

After ongoing financial and organizational problems with the Namibia Premier League (NPL), the Namibia Football Association expelled the league and founded a new top-flight league themselves following the 2018–19 season.{{Cite web |url=https://southerntimesafrica.com/site/news/namibia-football-starts-new-chapter |title=Namibia football starts new chapter. Southern Times, 11 December 2020. |access-date=18 January 2021 |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213132747/https://southerntimesafrica.com/site/news/namibia-football-starts-new-chapter |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/97549/read/Homeless-NPL-refuses-to-yield |title="Homeless" NPL refuses to yield. The Namibian, 22 December 2020. |access-date=18 January 2021 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113180030/https://www.namibian.com.na/97549/read/Homeless-NPL-refuses-to-yield |url-status=live }}

Despite a planned debut season in 2021, the league finally played its first season in 2022-23 after securing major sponsorship funding. Originally called the Namibia Premier Football League, the league was renamed the Namibia Premiership with the significant sponsorship of N$13 million provided by Debmarine.{{cite web |title=Debmarine Namibia Premiership |url=https://nfa.org.na/namibia-football-premier-league/ |publisher=Namibian Football Association |access-date=2 July 2024}}{{cite web |title=Premiership Action Returns Courtesy of Denmark e |url=https://economist.com.na/74696/sport/premiership-action-returns-courtesy-of-debmarine/ |publisher=Namibia Economist |access-date=2 July 2024}}

Following the 2023–24 season, the Namibia Football Association addressed the long-time issue of clubs with shared ownership competing in the same league. Beginning with the 2024–25 season, the practice would no longer be allowed. The debate had begun a season earlier with Mighty Gunners and Military School Okahandja, both operated by the Namibian Defence Force, set to compete in the Premiership. The issue was solved with the sale and rebranding of the club to Okahandja United. The issue arose again in summer 2024 when Khomas NAMPOL and Namibia Correctional Service were set to compete in the top-flight. Because of the new policy, Namibian Correctional Service FC were not promoted and were replaced by First Division South runners-up Blue Boys.{{cite web |last1=Tuerijama |first1=John |title=NFA addressing sister clubs in one league |url=https://www.namibian.com.na/nfa-addressing-sister-clubs-in-one-league/ |publisher=The Namibian |access-date=3 August 2024}}