Dube plays down flag faux pas
Kabelo Boranabi | Thursday March 12, 2015 18:00
After showing other African athletes a clean pair of heels, Botswana 4x400metres wonderkinds Karabo Sibanda, Baboloki Thebe, Loungo Scotch and Unoda Keetile performed the victory lap without the national flag, which is regarded as a norm.
The team powered to gold in 3:11:00 in the race at the just ended Africa Junior Championships last Sunday in Ethiopia, but their moment of glory seemed to suffer a temporary setback when they failed to get a flag for their victory lap.
BAA public relations officer, Roland Masalila said Monday that they would wait for an official explanation from the team manager, Dube, when the team arrives on the day.
Dube, however, on Wednesday told Mmegi Sport in a telephone interview that they did not travel with the blue/black/white flag to the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. He said for the team to have a flag, they were supposed to apply to the Ministry of Labour and Home Affairs through the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC).
He said the team is given the flag by the minister as a sign they are not only representing themselves, but the nation.
“The flag is usually given to the team during a send- off ceremony, but in this case that did not happen.
“The reason being that in most instances, athletes go with the flag, but do not use it, and it is not a must that we should always carry the flag,” Dube clarified. Dube further explained that even in big competitions like the Olympics, countries are not obliged to carry their national flags when doing the victory lap.
He said the reason most people complained is that it has never happened that a Botswana team does a victory lap without a flag, but maintained there was nothing wrong. This was the first flag incident involving Botswana and one of the few at a tournament of this magnitude. But with, or without a flag, the 4 x 400 team would continue its quest for more glory when it makes its presence felt at the Africa Youth Games in Mauritius in May.