Dipeba decries athletics suspension
Track and field coach expresses concern ahead of 2021 Olympic Games
Senior national athletics team coach Justice Dipeba has called on Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) and Botswana National Olympic Committee (BNOC) to collaborate and assist Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) to host Covid-19 protocol adhering events. This comes after the BNSC slapped BAA with a letter suspending them from hosting any competitive events until they have a solid plan of how they are
going to be Covid-19 compliant. The suspension is an aftermath of the Sports View Runners Club track and field event where it is alleged Covid-19 protocols were breached.
“It came as a shock to me when I heard about the suspension because trying to take athletes to the Olympics is not all about BAA but also about all stakeholders involved. They should have come on board instead of suspending them. They should have noted where BAA is lacking and intervened by filling in the gaps.
This is not about BAA but the country’s effort to qualify athletes to Tokyo,” said Dipeba.With the likes of Nijel Amos, Christine Botlogetswe, Amantle Montsho and Galefele Moroko already qualified, it is very imperative to keep them in a competitive mode since their opponents in Europe and America have been engaged in European Indoor Championships. Some pundits believe it’s time for Botswana to pullout from major competitions this year, including Olympics.
However, according to Dipeba it’s not ideal to pull out of competitions since it’s what athletes work towards daily. “For athletes, competitions are worthy because for some it is the first time qualifying for the Olympics while others want to see themselves running at that big stage so they wake up every morning to this dream of racing in Tokyo.
We have to find a way of supporting them,”he said.While BNSC desperately wants BAA to observe Covid-19 protocols, the suspension dents BNOC’s dream of qualifying 15 athletes to Tokyo. It is feared this might affect other events such as World Junior Championships and World Relays which also act as qualifiers.
“This has affected us going forward because it is going to be very difficult in qualifying more athletes since there are no competitions. Chances of qualifying more athletes are becoming slim and we are running out of time because we don’t know when the BAA plan will come out and when we will be able to compete again,” Dipeba said.