By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –
THE Zambia Boxing Federation (ZBF) has requested Government to intervene in its efforts of mobilising funds ahead of international competitions.
ZBF chief Thomas Chileshe said in an interview yesterday that the federation has been facing challenges to source for funds despite making passionate appeals to the corporate world.
With just less than a month left before Zambia competes at the forthcoming Kings Cup in Morocco, the federation has not raised any money towards meeting the travel costs of the Zambian contingent that would be trimmed to five boxers from the 21-man provisional team.
The International Boxing Federation (AIBA) will cater for the accommodation, meals and allowances for all the 32 participating countries at the Morocco championship, whose prizes are tagged at US$1,000 for gold, $800 and $400 for silver and bronze respectively.
Our appeal is that if the government gets involved in our activities of mobilising funds, perhaps we can manage to meet the costs of sending our boxers to these international tournaments and this challenge applies to all minor sports associations,” Chileshe said.
Meanwhile, Chileshe called on all coaches to commence early preparations ahead of the 2014 Women’s World Boxing Championships slated for November 15 in Jeju, South Korea and the Zone Six Youth Championships to be held in Zimbabwe.
