Windhoek
Red-faced Athletics Namibia (AN) officials and their stakeholders are having their hands full struggling to keep the lid on the boiling pot of disgruntled athletes, who found themselves grounded on foreign territory.
New Era Sport has been reliably informed that Jamaican-based Namibian athletes were left to fend for themselves as a result of administrative blunders and logistic mishaps that left the entire Namibian travelling entourage to the United States of America (USA), for the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, stranded at the airport.
The Namibians were booked to stay at the Philadelphia Marriot Downtown, USA Track and Field at a cost of U$1 135, while coach Letu Hamhola and two athletes were to be accommodated at the Sonesta Philadelphia Rittenhouse Square at a nightly rate of U$100 plus tax.
Apart from the aforesaid amounts, meals excluded, to compound matters NBC Otjiherero Radio Service sports reporter Rodman Katjaimo, who happened to be on the same scholarship with the athletes in Jamaica, was scheduled to accompany the team with his travelling expenses to be covered by the Namibian sports authorities.
New Era is in possession of a letter signed by Hamhola on the letterhead of the portfolio ministry that was sent to an unaddressed recipient requesting funding for the trip, but according to the signatory of the document, the request fell on deaf ears.
As a result, the stranded travelling entourage was left at the mercy of strangers and had to scavenge for meals and other basic needs from good Samaritans.
Eventually, kind hearted Namibians living in the USA came to the timely rescue of the embattled athletes after team management went cap in hand to ask for assistance.
Our crew has been reliably informed that Namibian foreign-based athletes must first obtain prior permission from the presiding body (AN) before embarking on participating in any international competition abroad.
“As far as I’m concerned, we did not receive any request from our athletes to partake in the relay race. Our mandate and criteria are very clear, we can only sanction participation in IAAF-sanctioned events,” shot back AN president Alna Similo.
Approached for comment, the acting chief administrator of the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), Walter Haseb, said he was aware of the debacle but blamed administrative hiccups.
“We did receive a request to transfer money to Jamaica for the athletes, not necessarily for this specific event but for covering the athletes’ expenses, such as accommodation, meals and other necessities.”
Haseb confirmed that NSC transferred the money, but there were a few logistical issues that needed to be ironed out first.
“As you might be aware, banks are very strict these days and needed clarification including a signed agreement before they could release such large amounts of money outside the country.”
He, however, echoed Similo’s call that athletes must obtain permission from the presiding bodies to participate in international competitions. The long-serving sports administrator minced no words and reminded athletes to operate within the confines of the allocated budget.