Sascoc cracks the whip
Chance of teams qualifying for Rio almost nil
FAREWELL, boxing; so long, hockey! South Africa’s qualifying criteria for the 2016 Olympics – which were confirmed yesterday – are so tough that some sporting codes have almost no chance of getting to the Rio Games.
The SA men’s hockey team is already out of the running, while the women’s side and the top amateur pugilists will have to scale the equivalent of Everest simply to book their tickets to Brazil.
“Only the highest level qualifications standards … will be considered,” the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) said yesterday.
“The Sascoc board reiterated that continental qualification would not be considered except in regard to Safa [SA Football Association] where the continental route is their only qualification process.”
But Banyana and the men’s under-23 sides will still have a tough time getting to Brazil.
The agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Fifa, the world governing body for soccer, gives Africa two women’s berths and three men’s spots. But Sascoc said that would not be sufficient.
“Safa will still have to satisfy the criteria of being the highest team in Africa and a further consideration of where they rank [on the] Fifa world ranking list.”
Banyana, who failed to win a game at the London Olympics, are ranked fifth in Africa and 60th in the world.
The men’s under-23 team, which have not been to a Games since 2000, have yet to qualify for the Olympic qualifying tournament in Senegal in December.
While hockey and boxing are likely to be the big losers when it comes to 2016 selection, Team SA’s medal hopes – from athlet- ics, swimming, rowing, canoeing and triathlon – will face no extra pressures to qualify.
Swimmers have to achieve qualifying times at the Olympic trials next year, while athletes will have to do their times and distances from a predetermined date, presumably starting some time this year.
The rowers and canoeists must qualify at their world championships this year, and triathletes must rank highly in the interna- tional series. The Blitzboks recently secured their spot for the inaugural Olympic rugby sevens competition.
Without an African qualification option, the SA women’s hockey team, ranked 11th in the world, must finish among the top six at the Hockey World League semifinals in Europe next month.
All the world’s top sides are competing in the tournament, with Argentina, US, Germany, China and Great Britain drawn in the same group as SA in Valencia, starting on June 10.
The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan are in the other semifinal tournament in Antwerp, Belgium, which kicks off on June 20.
Without a continental qualifying tournament, SA’s boxers will need to win medals at the world championships – a feat no local fighter has ever achieved.
This comes as Sport Minister Fikile Mbalula announced a once-off boost of R10-million for local amateur boxing. Perhaps it will help for 2020. Sascoc said its board had reviewed the qualification criteria at the request of some national federations.
“The board is, however, satisfied that the qualification criteria, which have been agreed to between the international sporting federations and the IOC … [are] in line with Sascoc’s policy of producing world-class athletes who will compete at the highest levels.”