Athletics Namibia takes blame for Bahamas list fiasco

ATHLETICS Namibia on Thursday shouldered the blame for the team selection scandal which has left the country’s sprint sensation Sade de Sousa unable to compete at the upcoming Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas.

AN said the administrative gaffe was caused by poor communication with the Namibia National Olympic Committee, which facilitated the registration and accreditation process for the Games, which run from 18 to 23 July.

A meeting between the two bodies and the Namibia Sports Commission on Wednesday resolved that AN had erred, and absolved the NNOC of any wrongdoing.

“We agree that a lack of communication from both sides played a role in the current issues concerning the team travelling to the Bahamas,” said AN secretary general Immanuel Hamutenya.

The controversy started when the NNOC announced the team to represent Namibia in the Bahamas, and De Sousa’s name was absent from the list, even though she met the qualifying standard for both the 100 and 200 metre sprints.

Sixteen-year-old De Sousa is the country’s top-ranked female athlete following her exploits at the senior national athletics championships in April in winning the 200m and finishing second in the 100m.

Her name was reportedly submitted by AN to the NNOC, but was later inexplicably replaced with that of long and high jump athlete Natalie Louw, while Johannes Smith was also added to the list of travelling athletes.

Namibia was only allotted three places for track and field at the Games. However, Louw and Smith rank outside the top three junior athletes in the country.

The three athletes initially selected were De Sousa and male track athletes Ivan Danny Geldenhuys and Theron Human.

“The names which were approved were not the same sent to the NNOC, which led to the right list only being forwarded to the NNOC on 18 [March], which was after the due date and accreditation date [for the Commonwealth Youth Games],” explained Hamutenya, who claims to not have signed off on the controversial list.

“Our wish would have been to amend the team accordingly, but we understand that the accreditation has closed and the amendments cannot happen,” he said.

“We would also [like to] highlight that athlete Johannes Smith was part of the long list submitted by AN, but that in terms of the AN rankings, was not part of the top three.

“However, at this stage, we do not recommend his removal as in doing so [we] will also affect his motivation as he had no input in his inclusion,” Hamutenya stated.

“We, AN and the NNOC, have agreed that moving forward, no list of AN should be accepted by them [NNOC] without the secretary general’s signature, and that communication be improved on both sides,” he stated.

Namibia’s 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games team comprises Johannes Smith, Natalie Louw and Ivan Geldenhuys (all athletics); Tangeni Nampadhi and Tryagain Ndevelo (boxing); Alex Miller and Charl du Plooy (road cycling); and Georgina Moolman and Codie van Schalkwyk (tennis).

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