Bantsi admits doping challenges in the region
Calistus Kolantsho | Friday January 19, 2018 14:36
“We take doping seriously both at the CAA level and IAAF level. Anti doping body has now been moved away from IAAF administration to be an independent unit. We are urging our federations to have Medical and Anti-doping commissions,” he said.
Bantsi said the commissions’ mission is to educate athletes while also testing them. He said the number of athletes testing positive to banned substances in the region are a cause for concern. He said that at the moment the World Anti-doping Association (WADA) has a keen eye on Kenya, Ethiopia and Morocco amongst others in Africa.
“At the rate we (Botswana) are going, we might join the bandwagon. Anti doping remains a grey area. The region does not encourage the use of supplements,” Bantsi said.
Botswana has recorded four doping cases in the last four years, with 400m runner, Lydia Jele the latest to test positive in December.
Meanwhile, the regional body will introduce new innovations to ensure athletes compete in sufficient races.
The region has always been well represented in international competitions such as the Olympics and the IAAF World Championships.
But the region, which has 14-member states, has been lagging behind in some areas due to some challenges. Bantsi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that they want to move in a new direction this year.
“Normally we have four events annually, starting with the regional cross country, youth and senior championship and half marathon towards end of the year. This year, we have changed the format,” he said.
Bantsi noted that the region could do better with more competitions. He said it is difficult for some countries to organise events due to costs. As a result, the CAA has decided to combine some local and regional events.
“We have identified five countries; South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Mauritius and Zimbabwe to host premier competitions.
Individual federations will organise the events on behalf of the region. All other member federations would be invited and bring top athletes to these events. An example of one such race is the Gaborone International Meet (GIM),” he said.
He said Botswana has identified GIM and International Relays as the premier competitions. Bantsi said each country is allowed to host one event, but Botswana will host two. He said as a region they should assist the organisers in securing partnerships and television broadcasting rights deals. He said it is expensive for athletes from the Southern region to qualify in Europe. He said it is only a few countries that send their athletes overseas. He said with regional events, member countries can send their athletes who may qualify for major events.
“We have never had a relay team qualifying through our own races. This (new arrangement) would also bring the region together and we would share resources,” Bantsi said. He said the Southern region is lagging behind when it comes to competition management and training of officials. He said they are going to run courses for officials prior to events in all member countries. Bantsi said he want to stop the tendency of giving naming rights of events, to sponsors.
Bantsi said starting this year, each federation should licence its athletes, coaches, technical officials and administrators, with the licensing deadline set for April. Bantsi said the region is lagging behind in field events such as pole vault, hammer throw and discuss. He said all the events would be held according to international standards.