Finances stop army boxers’ trip to Russia

MBABANE – The two Umbutfo Eswatini Defence Force (UEDF) boxers who were set to represent the country in the Military Boxing Championship in Russia had to abandon the trip due to lack of funds.

Eswatini Boxing Association (EBA) President Webster Lukhele said that the association was looking forward to the two boxers attending the championship in Russia but things didn’t go according to plan.

“We are very sad because the boxers trained well preparing for these games. They were sponsored by the army so I think there are things that didn’t happen in time which led to the cancellation of the trip,” Lukhele said.

He further said he couldn’t say much about the funding from the army since they had their own procedure in doing things. “We were also shocked when we found out that the trip was called off due to funds. For now, the only thing we need to focus on is the 59th edition that will be next year, since this one is already a thing of the past,” Lukhele said.

Ministry

Meanwhile, UEDF Public Relations Officer (PRO) Tengetile Khumalo said the matter falls outside the ambition of the UEDF Public Affairs Office. It was an administrative matter that needed their parent ministry, which is the Ministry of Defence. “This is an administrative matter which needs our parent ministry. It is not under the Public Affairs Office, I have no further comments,” Khumalo said.

Boxer Muntu Simelane said this had hurt them because they gave all their energy in training preparing for their first Military Boxing Championship.

“We prepared everything that was expected from us. We even signed papers confirming that we were leaving. The only thing that was left were tickets, but after everything we were told that the prime minister said there was no money and we were shocked because all along we were making preparations knowing that we were soon leaving for Russia,” Simelane said.