The Herald
By Fatima Bulla
8th January 2010
Government has revealed that it will soon task the Sport and Recreation Commission to look into allegations of misconduct within the Zimbabwe National Boxing and Wrestling Control Board.
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart said although he would not directly deal with the matter, he would task SRC chairman Joseph James and his board to inquire about the allegations.
“These allegations have to be investigated and as such to follow the correct legal process it is the mandate of the SRC who have the jurisdiction to do so as empowered by the SRC Act.
“If this is found to be true, then the SRC is empowered to suspend the board, but at the moment we would not want to pre-empt the process,â€
Coltart said.
Coltart said it would be wrong for people to believe that the ZNBWCB is at par with the SRC arguing that “boxing is listed number 13 as one of the sports which are recorded in the first schedule of the Act and therefore subject to the Commission.
“Boxing falls under the board’s control as outlined in section 30 of the SRC Act.
In this section, the Act states that: where the board considers that any registered national association (a) has ceased to operate as a national association or (b) has failed to comply with any provision of this Act or (c) has conducted itself in a manner which is contrary to the national interests; the Board may after affording the association concerned an opportunity of making representations in the matter, do either or both of the following:
l Suspend all or any of its officers
l Direct the director-general to strike the association from the register.
“Where the board has taken any action referred to in the subparagraph
(i) or (ii) of subsection (i) the Minister may on the recommendation of, or after consultation with, the board appoint a committee to administer the affairs of the association concerned,†Coltart said.
The minister said if the Commission found out that there were fraudulent medical papers issued to boxers it meant there are people acting against national interests and thus tarnishing the image of the country.
He however, said all that would be investigated by the Commission. But Coltart welcomed the invitation to meet WBO vice-president Andrew Smale to map the way forward on the boxers’ plight.
Smale has worked with the ZNBWCB to promote Zimbabwean boxers and invites them to international fights.
He had indicated that there is need to urgently assess the way boxing is being run in the county following reports that local pugilists including Ali Phiri failed medical tests in Namibia last year.
The board has come under fire especially from boxers who are crying foul over the way the sport is being run.
ZNBWCB boss Richard Hondo has however, vehemently denied that his board which includes Tobaiwa Mudede and Patrick Mukondiwa has failed to deliver.