Namibia’s super cyclist Raul Costa Seibeb’s suspension from major international competitions was strangely upheld by the country’s sports authorities, according to a statement made by the NNOC Interim president Abner Xoagub, the “athlete was not banned”.
Can somebody please be so kind as to explain to me in layman’s language how a suspended athlete can still participate locally. Is it partial suspension?
Another case in point is that of Tyson Gay, the American sprinter who struck a deal with the doping authorities inter alia pimping on his coach and got away with a gentle wrap on the knuckles in the shape of a one-year suspension.
Coach Jon Drummond was slapped with an eight-year ban but, alas, where is the consistency in the application of sanctions? What message are we sending out, or are we implying that WADA authorities can bend the laws to nail some while others are sent to Coventry?
Seems to me like a vendetta and amounts to a pure witch-hunt. Yours truly is led to believe there are six “very active” WADA officials in Namibia.
Can they come forward and reveal their identities please, especially to the NRU where players seem to have a major problem. Nevertheless, what is more important is to see our sports umbrella bodies get together and solve the mess in which our athletes find themselves entangled. One would also like to see the NSC get involved and monitor adherence towards transparency.
It was earlier reported that federations, unions and associations applied for assistance at the eleventh hour to cover expenses for participation at national sporting events. Here the administrators are to blame, period. Even at club level, there is this nasty tendency to run the institutions like ‘spaza’ shops with some resorting to more tricks than the CIA and KGB combined and footwork that would leave Paulus “the Hitman” Moses green with envy. Ultimately, athletes suffer by putting their trust in lazy officials.
On the flip side of the coin, athletes are also to blame since they have conveniently developed a habit of playing the ignorance card. A two-way communication system at club level and national level will help prevent these situations.
The past two weeks saw schools rugby fluffing feathers for the annual rugby schools competition in South Africa. Namibian players competed in the Grant Komo, Craven and Academy weeks after trials were held in the various regions and this is a step in the right direction.
Heartening to see efforts are made to enforce the Sports Act. We all know that the Craven Week team was usually “selected” after the high schools finals somewhere in August each year.
By the way, perhaps the NRU Policy manual should be revised, as it makes provision and carries members as voting fodder, who produce and contribute very little if any to their so-called constituencies. A case in point is the unhappiness among national team players with the head coach. Disgruntled players have submitted statements to air their grievances and the board is fully aware of this but deliberately resolved to turn a deaf ear on their plight. Players’ representatives vote for OR against the players? Whose interests do the representatives promote? – the presiding body or the players?
Last weekend’s match between Unam and Falcon deteriorated into a right royal mess and now each party is covering their own ass screaming indignation, bias and wrongdoing by the other party!
Officials are too scared to call player X to order for fear of losing these idiot’s dubious rugby skills while supporters are shouting blue murder and only see what they want to see.
A certain section of the local Afrikaans press is always quick to report on these issues, as if it is only the so-called black and coloured players who get involved in scuffles and fisticuffs with each other and in verbal tiffs with the poor referees.
A quick reminder, this particular match took place at the Hage Geingob Stadium, so whose “home fixture” is it? I’m just asking. Have a pleasant long weekend.