Mabote seeks answers after squad omission
Seasoned T12 400m athlete, Keatlaretse Mabote is frustrated after being omitted from the national team preparing for the World Para Athletics Championships to be held in Kobe, Japan in May.
According to the Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO), Mabote did not meet the qualifying standard.
However, according to the official World Para Athletics rankings 2024, Mabote has qualified and he is ranked number eight with a time of 52.31s.
Speaking to MmegiSport, Mabote said he was shocked when he was excluded when the team was called for camp. He said the process that was followed when selecting the team was flawed. Other athletes who have been omitted are Lame Monamati (T12), Katlego Matutu (T12), and Tumo Masejane (T13).
“When I met with the coach, Nason ‘Hadji’ Maotwe in January, he informed me that if I want to qualify for the World Para Athletics Championships, I should run a time that is closer to the Paralympics qualifying standard which is 51:03s. He advised me that if I can clock 52.50s, I will be close. When I competed in Bloemfontein, South Africa I posted 52.33s, which is an improvement from the 52.34s which I registered last year. This whole thing is a mess because athletes were called to camp in secret and all T12 400m runners are not in camp,” he said.
Mabote said they took the matter up with the Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC), which in turn advised the athletes to go back to the Paralympics Association of Botswana (PASSOBO). He said his main concern was why T12 400M was not included in the events when it had a good time.
He said things changed when the team was in camp, which included one of the T11 400m athletes who is far from a qualifying time of 53.00s but has been included in the camp.
Mabote said when the PASSOBO technical team realised that he had a point, they turned around to say the qualifying time was 52.03s, which is something that was never communicated. “I feel this is just a plan to frustrate us. After I enquired about the exclusion of T12, they claimed that they had set a qualifying standard of 51.03 and it was reduced to 52.03. The information came through only after I pushed them. I wonder why they are fighting us. Our management is just there to push their own agenda. There is no transparency in the association. We ask questions, they take offence,” he said.
Mabote stated that the decision means it is the end of the road for his Paris 2024 Paralympics Games dream, which he has been working hard to achieve since 2006. “It was tough for me, I even introduced Edwin Masuge and Bose Mokgwathi to athletics. I even took a break in 2018 from competing to coach those athletes and the team brought a gold medal from the Region V Games. But now I am seen as a bad person. I have now decided to quit. All we want is assistance. Maybe we are getting this bad treatment because we are disabled,” said the disappointed Mabote.
The team manager, Monty Ratlou, said Mabote did not meet the cut because the set qualifying standard is 52.03s, which he failed to meet. He said preparations for the World Para Athletics Championships are going well and the team is jetting off on May 11.
The team: T13 400m:
waneng Young Stars’ coach, Andrew ‘School boy’ Tlou, has his fingers crossed for a positive outcome as his side inches closer to a maiden Premier League promotion.
Tlou suffered heartbreak in 2019 with Jwaneng Fighters, his then side. Now, five years later, he is on the verge of getting to the Promised Land with the Debswana First Division South League leaders. If they secure promotion as expected, it will be a first for the club and the coach.
The star-studded Fighters’ side had local football household names such as Raphael Nthwane, Boitumelo Mafoko, and Mosimanegape Ngongorego. The team was in a neck-andneck battle with Gilport Lions. Lions pipped Fighters to the post as Tlou’s charges settled for the play-off spot.
However, the team was denied progression to the Premier League by Morupule Wanderers in the playoffs. Fighters were beaten 2-0 at home before they let a 2-0 lead slip in the away tie, which ended 2-2.
So far, Tlou has emerged with Young Stars. The team is having a near-perfect run to their maiden Premier League promotion. They sit at the top of the standings with 40 points, from a possible 54. They have won 13 times and lost on four occasions while they played to a draw once, the lowest in the league.
With 40 goals scored, Young Stars are the First Division South net busters and have conceded the lowest at only 13 thus far. Tlou’s side is only two wins away from Premier League promotion and the coach hopes to avoid the ghost of the past. He cited sound club administration as the definitive difference between the 2024 title run and their 2019 near-miss. “That time, it was difficult. Fighters are run by society, not by a company.
This one (Young Stars) is a company. A company and a society are two different things.
A company structure is controlled by a few people, while in a society set up, whoever makes the loudest noise is listened to. It was unfortunate for me. I always think about that time. When I got into this position, I knew I could go to the Premier League. I knew it would take a lot,” Tlou told MmegiSport.
The tactician is not about to pop the champagne bottle, as his side still needs six points from the remaining 12.
“I am not confident yet, because we still need to wrap it up. We are now working with calculators. We are calculating that if those guys behind us can win these games, how far can they go? So, we are eyeing 46 points now. If we get to 46 [points] then, we are well and good. We will be beyond reach,” Tlou said.