Africa-Press – Eswatini. Following the tiff between athletics stakeholders in the country, Athletics Eswatini (AE) Communications and Marketing Officer Victor ‘Mavikane’ Dlamini has joined the bandwagon, calling for clubs and other stakeholders to come together and end the on-going tensions currently gripping the sport.
‘Mavikane’ shared the sentiments ahead of this weekend’s second event under the association’s calendar, The All Africa Games First Qualifiers, to be held at Mavuso Sports Centre tomorrow.
Last weekend at the same venue, the federation hosted the disastrous World Indoor Final Qualifiers and very few clubs showed up, let alone competed. Some were seen leaving the venue before the start of the competition, leading to the event being cancelled, as there were no athletes to compete.
Those who were there did get to compete in those selected track events, but all field events which include high jump, long jump, discus throw and javelin were cancelled. Late last year, AE suspended Manzini Athletics Club (MAC) and its head coach Muzi Mabuza from all activities for five years. last week’s absence from the athletics fraternity may have been in solidarity with the MAC..
Mabuza and his club were charged with misconduct and bringing the association and President Zakhele Dlamini into disrepute, and were subsequently charged and fined.
The communications officer called for lasting solutions to the problem, as it would be the athletes and the sport that would suffer in the long run.
“I am not a politician.
I was appointed to this position due to my passion for the sport. So it pains me to see all the great progress we have made over the years go to waste due to some of the political issues going on in the association. Mine is to request the affected parties to come to the round table and engage in a dialogue in order to find a lasting solution.
Let us put the athletes’ well-being first,” he said.
Dlamini went on to encourage the various athletes to ensure that they were part of this weekend’s competition if they had any hopes of representing the country at the All Africa Games.
The 13th All Africa Games will be held in Ghana between March 8 and 24.
“The only way to get selected to represent the country in Ghana is to attend this weekend’s qualifiers.
Anyone who doesn’t show up will not be considered. So if anyone was not there last weekend, this is their chance to show what you can do and possibly get selected,” he added.
Eswatini Sports and Recreation Council (ESRC) Media Officer Dumisani Ntiwane echoed the sentiments of Dlamini, as he urged athletes to not get involved in the ongoing internal squabbles.
“We won’t get involved in the squabbles and our main concern is for the well-being of athletes. The events hosted by AE are not for the club owners causing the disruption, and if athletes are being denied the right to compete, we condemn that and don’t like it,” he said.
He went on to say athletes had the right to register and compete individually, to which he encouraged them to do so.
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