Africa-Press – Lesotho. With only two weeks left before the 12th All Africa Games scheduled for Rabat, Morocco, Lesotho athletes and officials are faced with the possibility of missing the games.
The games are set to start on August 19th to August 31st. However it is still not clear if Lesotho will compete in these games since the team has not received the requested M8.5 million for the games.
Lesotho University and College Sport Association (LUCSA) President Tšepang Mantutle, is appointed to lead team Lesotho as Chef De Mission (CDM). Mantutle confirmed yesterday that they have
not received their requested budget for the trip from the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation. “We were promised and we are still waiting
even though we are behind schedule,” mentioned Mantutle. He stated from the M8.5 million budget, M1.5 million will only be used for preparations. “Our plan
was to stage a 12 day final camp for the players before we depart for the games however we failed to as a result of the financial constraints we are faced with,”
he said. The team is expected to jet off the country on August 17th. Mantutle and the team General Manager- Adv Bothobile Shebe, are expected to be in Morocco before August 10th.
Even though they did not have good preparations, Mantutle still believes Lesotho is ready for the games citing that most athletes who were selected to represent Lesotho in Morocco are athletes who are already
under training programs offered by the Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) and Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC). Out of 26 sporting codes approved for the
games, Lesotho will only be represented in six; athletics, taekwondo, table tennis, boxing, weightlifting, and cycling. Mantutle said the total number of athletes is
26 but the names are yet to be finalized per sporting code.
The trip and team Lesotho is jointly being prepared by LNOC and LSRC. LSRC Public Relations Officer (PRO) Teboho Rakhomo said failure to show up for the
games will result in Lesotho facing serious penalties. In an exclusive interview with Informative Sport, the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sport and Recreation Chief Information Officer (CIO) Maqalika Matsepe, mentioned it was only yesterday
morning when their Finance Office received assurance from the Ministry of Finance that the requested money will be available. However he did not specify when the money will reflect in the team’s account.
On the other hand Federation Cycling Lesotho (FCL) PRO
Malefane Morie said regardless of the failure by the government to support team Lesotho, athletes are ready to compete in this prestigious tournament.
“In cycling we do not have off seasons, we are always
active. We always make sure we have fun rides if there are no tournaments so that we do not hustle when athletes are needed for international competitions,” he added.
Earlier,
Lesotho boxing national coach Sebusiso Keketsi told Informative Sport that his boxers’ preparations are not satisfactory. “Our preparations are poor. We cannot even promise Basotho any medals however I believe the players will do their best,” he added.
