BAA demands respect over latest snub

Calistus Kolantsho | Friday May 7, 2021 14:47

Minister Rakgare (right) and permanent secretary Ramokate at the press briefing that was meant to give updates on the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PIC: KENNEDY RAMOKONE

The press conference was meant to give an update on the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. BAA vice president, Oabona Theetso told Mmegi Sport that they were surprised not to be invited to the press conference. “We do not know why we were not invited. But it was up to the minister to decide. I feel it is a lack of respect for offices that are held by other people. Despite the fact that he is a minister, I only learnt about the event an hour before it happened and they were to talk about our team,” he said.

Theetso said the team currently belongs to BAA and it is not yet an Olympics team. He said the BAA is the one best suited to talk about World Relays and team preparation.

“We are operational on the ground, the minister is not operational. I do not think what he said, he represented our interests as BAA, it was the interests of the ministry,” Theetso said.

Regarding the announcement of incentives, Theetso pointed out they would not complain about the decision. He said the focus is for the team to qualify and maybe they would deal with other things after the Olympics. He said they do not want to be labelled as cry babies and accused of complaining all the time. “Let us let sleeping dogs lie. If the money comes, we would accept it. The confusion is whether athletes would get the P50,000 from the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) or if it was a pledge from MYSC,” Theetso said.

He said the plan is to send a team to the Africa senior championship scheduled for next month. Theetso added the championship is an Olympic qualifier.

“We do not have the power to send the team, all we do is to prepare. Those who have the power are those with money. I cannot confirm if we are going or not,” he said. The MYSC permanent secretary, Kago Ramokate said the P50,000 is as per the incentive package for national teams. He explained that there is no addition. When asked why the BAA was not invited, Ramokate said the BNSC and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) are the main sports bodies that advise the minister. Meanwhile, Rakgare said they are currently discussing the incentive package for national teams. He said they want it to be more attractive.

“We should not compare sporting codes because expectations are different. I would not sit here and try to compare. Regarding the P650,000, during the Zimbabwe game, the government financial year was coming to an end, but there were some savings from the AFCON competition. When we realised that, we felt that we could offer that money to the players,” he said.

Rakgare said unfortunately it is not allowed to give the money to another code. He said in terms of performance, athletics could not be compared to any code. But also football could not be compared to any code in terms of job creation. “I have realised that things are fuelled by us and in the end, we would be seen as sowing seeds of division. We must respect athletics, football and other codes. Stop making comparisons. Each member of the relay team is receiving P50,000 each but for Zebras, each player was to receive P15,000 each,” Rakgare said.