Top athletes angry over ‘broken’ booking system
Top New Zealand athletes are being forced to withdraw from overseas events due to a lack of confidence in the country’s MIQ system.
Those who have chosen to compete are struggling to find a way home.
Sally Currie, wife and manager of New Zealand Ironman athlete Braden Currie, is one of many affected.
Braden opted to fly to Europe and race in the Collins Cup last month, despite being unable to secure a spot in MIQ. He formally applied to share a room with Kiwi friend Dylan McNiece, who has the same travel itinerary, but was denied.
He now faces an unknown wait time to return home.
“Myself and Braden’s philosophy on life has always been to make decisions based on courage, never fear,” Sally said. “Two weeks ago, when faced with the decision to either fly to Europe to do his job — race the world’s best athletes to support his wife and two children — or not go and give up on his ability to earn a living from what he has trained for his entire life, as well as our hopes and dreams, he decided to go with no MIQ spot booked for his return.
“If Braden didn’t go, he would risk his end-of-year ranking in his sport and this would be the end of the road for his career.
“Should Covid be the reason New Zealand athletes end their careers?
“New Zealand high performance athletes’ dreams and livelihoods are being shattered as they are forced to withdraw from scheduled overseas events on which they rely for their income,” said Currie.
“These international opportunities are what they have been working towards their entire lives and make up just one segment of the enormous network of New Zealanders grounded overseas who have lost trust in our Government due to the very broken MIQ system.”
Currie is not the only one complaining, with Kiwi world motocross champion Courtney Duncan also uncertain about when she will be able to return home after competing.
Kiwi surfer Paige Hareb, meanwhile, withdrew from the World Surf League Challenger Series over the same issue.
It comes after national teams and sporting events such as the All Blacks, Fifa Women’s World Cup, New Zealand Open golf tournament,
New Zealand high performance athletes’ dreams and livelihoods are being shattered. Sally Currie
Women’s Rugby World Cup and the Pakistan men’s cricket tour of New Zealand have all been granted MIQ exemptions.
Sally Currie has since penned an open letter to Sports Minister Grant Robertson and started a live petition calling for a reform of the MIQ system.
It asks the Government to create an equitable booking system, increase capacity and consider alternatives for vaccinated returnees.
The petition already has more than 15,000 signatures.
Last month, the Government said bespoke MIQ facilities for athletes was not a realistic option, following calls from several of the country’s leading athletes — including Olympic bronze medallist trampolinist Dylan Schmidt, and Eugene Bareman, coach of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
“Bespoke facilities were considered last year but ultimately declined due to workforce constraints — including the health and security workforces,” Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told the Herald last month.
“The number of available rooms is finite and demand is outstripping supply. This is in spite of New Zealand having three times the number of MIQ rooms available per capita than Australia.
“Under these constraints, the Government is working hard to maintain a balance of keeping New Zealanders as safe as possible, and being as fair as we can in giving ordinary Kiwis and business, sports and other people the opportunity to secure a room in an MIQ.”