23 Mar 2016

Biased judging is said to have been the order of the day at the just ended Africa second boxing Olympic qualifying tournament that was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Team manager, Irene Ntelamo said Botswana was among the countries which were affected by biased refereeing, adding that the situation nearly got out of hand and that armed police had to be called to calm the situation.

Ntelamo said the referees biasness was obvious to all participants, but that they could not lodge a formal protest because AIBA rules stipulate that nations should respect the referee’s decision, adding that even at the closing ceremony the president of AIBA registered his displeasure about the adjudicators.

She said the AIBA president made it clear that although people had to respect the judges decicion, they also have to do the right thing and be fair in their judging 

In other issues, Ntelamo said although the boxers did their best, they could not qualify for the Olympics.

BoBA president, Dr Thato Patlakwe said the fact that all the seven boxers failed to qualify was a sad moment for boxing because it was the first time they had failed to qualify at least one boxer to the sports biggest show piece.

He said  they have to go back to the drawing board and come up with plans and strategies that would enable them to perform better in future endeavours.

“Let me state that if funds permit our boxers have the last chance of trying their luck at the world Olympic qualifiers schedule for Azerbaijan in June 2016,” he said 

Dr Patlakwe further said it was important going forward that they get more time to develop and strategically focus on development, adding that they believe the team would be stronger for the next Olympics. 

He further said they must take all the necessary steps to prepare the team for the next Olympics. 

“First, we must work on improving youth development structures to produce quality athletes from the youth level and these include coaches and officials. Secondly, we should  identify the team earmarked for the 2020 Olympic Games,” he said 

Dr Patlakwe further said there was a need to have more international training camps and competitions that would give athletes more exposure and experience leading to major international competitions. 

Botswana was represented by Mahommed Otukile (49kg), Kabelo Bagwasi (60kg), Kagiso Bagwasi (64kg), Lentswe Zwinila (69kg), Zibani Chikanda (75kg), and in the womens category was Koketso Dipogiso (51kg) and Keamogetse Kenosi (60kg). Ends