By ADRIAN MWANZA –
THE nine Zambian athletes who took part in the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Senior Challenge in South Africa have complained over unpaid allowances while in Durban.
The athletes, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the outing was a disaster mentally because the Zambia Amateur Athletics Association (ZAAA) neglected them while in Durban.
The athletes protested at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport (KKIA) on arrival and it had to take the intervention of ZAAA president Elias Mpondela to calm the fuming athletes.
Mpondela laboured to calm and explain to the irate athletes about their delayed allowances in a meeting that lasted about 15 minutes.
One visibly angered athlete said the association had promised to pay them US$150 each, but that they had not received anything from the time they left the country to take part in the challenge.
“It is very frustrating that we were not given anything as allowances while we were in Durban which somehow affected our morale even though we managed to mint medals for our country,” he said.
He said the situation was so bad that they would sometimes go without a meal the whole day and wondered how they would compete favourably in such unbearable conditions.
“Honestly, how do they expect us to push ourselves if we are not being properly treated by our association which just dumped us in South Africa,” he said.
The athletes said this was not the first time such was happening as they had been in similar predicaments in the past.
They called on the ZAAA executive to ensure that they improved on their operations because the Durban trip was not properly organised.
“ZAAA should really improve because this is unacceptable, how do they dump us in a foreign land without money and food and expect us to put in our best?” the athlete asked.
ZAAA public relations manager Davison Mungabata said he was not aware of the complaint and could only comment once he got a report.