No visa glitches for athletics team

Calistus Kolantsho | Friday July 21, 2017 14:58

The Nigerian media had reported that Botswana faced visa glitches and was stranded at a Nigerian airport on Tuesday.

One of the athletes, Xholani Talane dismissed the reports in an interview with Mmegi Sport. He said they did not have any challenges and all their travel documents were in order. Talane said they competed well and finished in second position.

The team comprised Talane, Karabo Mothibi, Keene Motukisi and Kago Sebele. The only woman who had travelled to Nigeria, Loungo Matlhaku finished third.

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) executive committee additional member, Mompati Ngwako said the reports were shocking and untrue. He said when the athletes left Botswana, everything was in place.

“Matlhaku is under the Botswana National Sport Commission’s (BNSC) Zebra Fund and they took care of her travel arrangements while the other athletes paid for their travel expenses,” he said.

Meanwhile, a team that competed at the IAAF Youth Championships  held in Kenya managed to reach the semi-final. BAA spokesperson, Ipolokeng Ramatshaba said the competition was tough for the young runners. He said they became the first team in the history of local athletics to fail to bring a medal at that level.

“This is a development phase and we expected them to do better. But unfortunately things did not go according to plan. It is an assignment for us as the association to go back to the drawing board together with our coaches and work on the youngsters,” he said.

Ramatshaba said some of the team members have travelled to the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games currently underway in Bahamas.