Editorial Comment: Muripo, a model sportsman any country could dream of

SAMSON MURIPO represents the real example of a perfect model of a sporting ambassador any country could dream of.

The unassuming karaketa is never one to plunge into the kind of controversies that have become part of parcel of the lives of high profile sportspersons.

Instead, he lives by the book, keeping a very low profile, training, teaching scores of others the art of karate and competing and winning in big tournaments.

He has been doing this for the past decade since he first exploded on the scene by capturing a world title as a virtually unknown sportsman in this country.

And, a decade later, he hasn’t changed a bit.

Last week, he went to the sixth Kyokushin Karate World Cup in Russia and claimed gold in the Veterans category, beating some of the most experienced karatekas in the world.

Somehow, despite being told about the tragedy, which saw his father passing away just before the competition started, Muripo still had the mental strength and depth of character to take on some of the toughest karatekas in the world and become the World Champion.

But, what caught our attention, was how he ended up in Russia.

Muripo financed his trip and we didn’t even hear him going all over the places crying and shouting for assistance.

And, when he came back home with the gold medal and the lofty status of being a World Champion, he didn’t use that to try and enrich himself.

“There are people who are just pacesetters,’’ he told us this week. “They don’t consider remuneration at first and yet, inside themselves, they would say at some stage I should have money.

“You have to know your rank, at any given time, don’t spend more than what you earn. It’s about being content and disciplined.

“In other countries, where we compete, the so-called So-kyokushin karate we practice in Zimbabwe, if you are to ask their champions, they will tell you their Governments give them money after getting gold.

“Government has been trying, those national awards and so forth, people expect too much, if we are struggling economically as a country I think those things are the ones that are supposed to be addressed.

“I think we are expecting too much from the authorities, that’s my thinking. If the economy is vibrant you can make a living, you can even be recognised more.’’

For his trip to Russia, Muripo also had to get contributions from some of his students, whom he teaches karate, to take care of food and other related expenses.

But, despite all that, he managed to transform himself into a World Champion.

Now, compare and contrast his story with what we have seen, in recent months, from some of the other sportspeople who represent us in international competitions and you will see a massive difference.

Just a few months ago, we saw chaos envelope our Warriors’ camp during the 2019 AFCON finals in Cairo, Egypt.

Now, and again, grim stories emerged from their camp about the turmoil which kept being triggered by protests over payment of appearance fees, bonuses and allowances.

Our Warriors kept demanding to be paid, upfront, US$5 000 each, just to play for 90 minutes of each game at the Nations Cup finals.

That amount was irrespective of whether they lost, drew or won a game.

Rather than concentrate on trying to win their matches, represent their country with distinction and make history as the first group of Warriors to go beyond the group stages of the tournament, our footballers kept demanding that they be paid first for flying our national flag. While we agree that sportspeople need to be given incentives, including financial packages, for them to do well when they go onto the field, even when they are representing their country, we didn’t believe that a US$5 000 appearance fee, for each group game at the AFCON finals, was a payment that could be justified.

It represented a form of looting, where the thrust shifted from doing well for the country, to making as much money as possible among those who were representing us in Egypt.

But, for all the money they received, during that tour of duty, the Warriors performed badly at that AFCON finals, losing two of their three matches, and drawing only one, in what was the worst show, by our national team, at Africa’s biggest football showcase.

And, if we thought the horror of Cairo represented the lowest point for us this year, we were wrong and a few months later, we had that embarrassing episode where the Mighty Warriors boycotted an Olympic Games qualifier against Zambia, at home of all places, in protest over unpaid bonuses.

The same team, which had captured the imagination of the globe by featuring at the last Olympics in Brazil, suddenly appeared to lose the significance of them playing at such a tournament again and, instead, boycotted their qualifier because of unpaid bonuses and allowances.

Compare that with how Muripo has sacrificed his way back to the top, to become a World Champion again, and you will see the difference that separates legends and the pretenders.