Chronicle Editor
Harare Bureau
WITH the 2024 season drawing closer, the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe have indicated they will be getting tough with athletes and organisations that run competitions without clearance as they seek to maintain order within the sport.
Naaz president Tendayi Tagara said they have had challenges when athletes travel outside the country without clearance or compete in unsanctioned races.
The season gets underway early next month.
“We are going to be tough on athletes who skip the border. When they meet challenges they seek the association’s support. We want them to have annual clearance rather than one event.
“We are asking them to be cleared from January to December. They only pay US$20 for the whole year, for January to December, and as many races.
“They just indicate where they will be running and we clear them for the whole year, one clearance per year and they are done.
But (the problem) is they wait until they have to go and participate in races. When they win and then fail to get prize money because they have no clearance, they then look for the association to assist.
“We are going to be tough on organisations that want to organise events without clearance. We have athletes killed, disabled, and failing to get paid. When all this happen government through SRC (Sports Commission) they expect Naaz to be accountable. Some are running (competitions) under the guise of ‘fun run’.
“As long as you run outside your premises, we are accountable and must be cleared. We are encouraging the police not to clear road races when the organiser has no letter of clearance from Naaz,” Tagara said.
Going into 2024, the national association is looking at continuing with their collaborations with schools for grassroots development and capacity development of coaches to improve the quality of athletes and competition.
“We are looking at collaborations with schools as the backbone of our youth and juniors.”
Online Reporter