Naaz waiting for guidance on fund distribution for professional athletes

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe (Naaz) is eagerly awaiting an explanation from World Athletics (WA) on the criteria that will be used to distribute US$500 000 to assist professional athletes affected by inactivity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last week, the custodians of world athletics announced availability of the fund together with the International Athletics Foundation to support professional athletes experiencing financial hardships due to inactivity after the pandemic jammed sports and large gatherings globally.

WA president Sebastian Coe said the money will be used to bail out athletes that have lost income in the past few months due to suspension of international competitions as the world battles to contain the virus.

Coe, who also chairs the IAF, will chair a multi-regional working group to assess applications for assistance that will be submitted to WA’s six area associations. The working group will meet to establish a process for awarding and distributing grants to individual athletes and to look at other ways to raise additional money for the fund.

“We are awaiting further unpacking of the criteria of who qualifies for assistance. The key word there is professional athletes. We want World Athletics to give us guidance to determine who will benefit,” said Naaz president Tendai Tagara.

Naaz froze all competitions until at least September, while Zimbabwean athletes that were looking forward to competing on the international scene were affected, as the world sporting community took a similar decision to halt all competitions.

The World Half Marathon that had been scheduled for March 19 in Poland has been rescheduled to September 7 on condition that the pandemic is contained.

The Africa Junior and Senior Championships were also moved to June 2021.

WA also pushed back by a year the World Senior Championships that were to be held in the United States of America.

The biggest sporting competition in the world, the Olympics, which were to be hosted by Tokyo in Japan in August, few were also postponed to next year. The Tokyo Olympics will now be held from July 23, 2021, to August 8, 2021.

The Olympics have never been postponed in their 124 history, although they were cancelled in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to the World Wars.