Crumbs for coaches as athletes smile
Coaches were left to pick up the crumbs while athletes are smiling all the way to the bank. The two coaches, Justice Dipeba and Kebonyemodisa Mosimanyane, were the brains behind the 4x400m relay team, which won a bronze medal at the just ended Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
While athletes were showered with cash and houses, the coaches were left to contend with pennies. Athletes will pocket more than P200,000 while coaches have so far gotten less than P40,000.
Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) vice president, Oabona Theetso felt that it was wrong for the coaches to be left behind. He said the coaches are volunteers and need to be recognised.
“The trend long started when the athletes received their monthly allowances after qualifying for the Olympics. The coaches were left out. Sadly, our coaches are not recognised. BAA has tried to take up the matter with the Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) but our request was dismissed. BNOC informed us that they were not part of the budget,” he said.
For the first time in the history of sport, the government has rewarded the relay team with houses for winning the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The team broke the African record twice en route to winning Botswana’s second Olympic Games medal.
“I am happy to announce today,
August 11, 2021, that government will offer each of the six men’s 4x400m relay team members a two bedroomed house as a reward,” the Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare said, during a dinner hosted for the team on Wednesday.
Rakgare said the reward was unprecedented for local sport and further details will be made available in due course.
The government has also rewarded the athletes with cash. The relay team of Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Zibani Ngozi, Bayapo Ndori, Leungo Scotch and Anthony Pesela will get P50,000 each for winning the bronze medal and P2,000 for setting the new African record.
Makwala will pocket P5,000 for reaching the 400m finals, while Nijel Amos gets the same amount for his feat in the 800m.
Boxers Otukile Rajab Mohammed and Keamogetse Sadie Kenosi will receive P2,000 each. James Freeman and Magdelene Moyengwa will get P1,500 each. Rakgare said the government spent over P4 million over the past three years in preparing and taking the team to Tokyo.
“This amount covered sending athletes to qualifiers, athletes welfare and upkeep, camping/ training, incentives and rewards and all administrative costs associated with the preparations and competing at the Games in Tokyo,” he said. Upon qualifying for the Olympics, the athletes were given P8,000 monthly allowance, P25,000 each for qualifying, while coaches got P10,000 each.
Cash continued to flow for the relay team as Debswana Mining Company stepped in and rewarded them with P75,000 each for the bronze medal and P50,000 each for setting the African record.
Debswana head of technical services, Bakani Motlhabani said each athlete will walk away with P125,000 each. “Each athlete who did not bring home a medal is rewarded with P50,000 each. Coaches will receive P30,000 including the Paralympic team coach. The Paralympic team members, Edwin Masuge and Gloria Majaga bank P70,000 each,” Motlhabani said.