Herald
17 June 2010
By Fatima Bulla
Harare — EDUCATION, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart is next week expected to reveal findings of a probe into the operations of boxing in this country after a report, complete with recommendations, was submitted to him, a senior official said last week.
The Principal Director responsible for Sport, Paul Damasane, last week said while the report was ready for public consumption, it was only the minister who had the authority to release it.
“Boxing is governed by an Act of Parliament, and I don’t have the jurisdiction over announcing to you what came out. The minister will do that, but he is out of the country and will be back on the 21st,” Damasane said.
The institution of a commission of inquiry into the sport of boxing came as a result of an outcry by Namibian boxing authorities and the World Boxing Organisation, after it emerged that the medical results of four boxers who had travelled to Windhoek for some title fights were fraudulent.
The development was contrary to global requirements that demand all boxers to undergo medical tests prior to matches to ascertain their HIV and hepatitis B status. This is done to avoid boxers who fail their medicals from exposing their opponents.
Although the ZNBWCB has vehemently denied that testing has always been mandatory, saying they needed the authority of the Ministry first to enforce it, records at hand show that Zimbabwe could not, for instance, send the late Proud “Kilimanjaro” Chinembiri for his WBC elimination fight against Lennox Lewis in London because the former had failed his medicals in 1990.
They (the board) went on to ban the former continental champion after he defied their order by travelling to Ivory Coast for a fight.
The Zimbabwean quartet — Ali Phiri, Livingstone Master Chigwada, Isaac Phonkeni and Blessing Moleni — which was supposed to fight for international titles at the Windhoek Country and Resort in Namibia as part of that country’s Independence celebrations took with them forged documents, but organisers of the event were quick to discover the fraud.
This has resulted in Zimbabwean boxing in general paying the price, as most promoters from the region are now shunning fighters from this country in their bills.
Prior to the scam — which raised an international outcry — Zambia and Namibia used to enjoy cordial sporting relations with Zimbabwe in the area of boxing.
Even World Boxing Organisation Africa president, Andrew Smale, has vowed to “leave no stone unturned until he gets to the root of the matter.”
He has since written to minister Coltart and still awaits the findings of the commission of inquiry.