Sports awards return with a twist

Under the new arrangement, members of the public will vote for the 'public athlete/team of the year'. Speaking during the launch on Tuesday, the chairperson of the adjudication panel for the 2020-2021 awards, Charmaine Khupe said the awards have not taken place periodically due to the suspension of sport. “We might recall that at the time, the suspension affected sporting activities and among those, Olympic qualifiers,” she said.

Khupe said in its nature, sport thrives in challenges and credible virtual efforts enabling the holding of some activities, though minimal, by associations. She said as protocols eased and allowed sport to sluggishly return to play, deserving outcomes were delivered that must be recognised. “Performance appraisals rate the previous year’s outcome. Given the unforeseen situation that COVID-19 subjected us to, we had to find a way to reward resilient performances that were carried out in those challenging times.