The Sunday Mail
Lawson Madzivanyika
IT appears meeting qualification standards is no longer enough for one to represent the country at international events. The Sunday Mail Sport can exclusively reveal that the cash-strapped National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe is forcing athletes who qualify for such events to fork out a blanket fee of US$300 “to cover logistics”.
And even a combination of a good qualifying time and US$300 may not be enough, as Rugare Mugazambi found out on the weekend of June 11-12, 2016.
Mugazambi believed that his impressive 52,79m throw in the junior javelin category at the Heroes Meet had earned him a ticket to Zambia for the Southern Region Championships.
However, the 17-year-old St Anthony’s student got the shock of his life when his name did not appear on the final team list. Efforts by members of his family to pay the US$300 were fruitless as NAAZ officials said the money ought to have been paid earlier.
“We are told the school was supposed to pay the US$300 but they failed so today we came with the money but the officials are gives us all sorts of excuses.
“Honestly what is this? The boy has met the qualifying standard and we have the money needed to cover the so called logistics but he still cannot travel for some unknown reasons,” charged Mugazambi sister, Tafadzwa Mugazambi-Meki.
Mitchelle Mutomba of Murewa High paid the required money “on time” but she too failed to make the team. “We were given a list with our names telling us that we had rightfully earned our spots after an event in Mutare and I paid the US$300 but today, at the 11th hour, I have been told that I will not be travelling. Right now I am not sure if I will get reimbursement from our association,” said the shot put athlete.
Team Zimbabwe manager Silas Muringani defended the US$300 demand and insisted that they finalised their team selection in Mutare.
“Athletes selected in Mutare were told to pay the money in advance because as NAAZ we are broke. Yes, we might have had athletes who qualified during last weekend’s meeting but it’s too late for us to make changes to the team now. “As for cases whereby an athlete paid the US$300 but has been left out of the team we will reimburse them,” he said.
