Anti-Doping Top-Man Cautions athletes against doping
Sport
Regional manager of the Zone 6 Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO), which is head-quartered in Botswana Andrew Kamanga, has warned athletes to steer clear of banned substances lest they invite irredeemable self-destruction to their fledgling sporting careers.
Speaking to WeekendSport Kamanga said that, “ignorance is not even an excuse even if you have taken a banned substance unknowingly.” He highlighted the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) ‘principle of strict liability’ which places the onus on athletes to steer clear of doping activities.
Kamanga, whose bureau is responsible for the stemming of doping in 11 Southern African countries and also directing Botswana’s National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADO) operations says his office has coalesced with the Ministry of Youth Sports and Culture, Botswana National Sports Council as well as the Botswana National Olympic Committee and has gone as far as conducting in-competition tests at the Be-Mobile Premier League, Mascom Top 8 championships, the annual Gaborone marathon as well as at the Township Rollers football club.
Kamanga also revealed that the Botswana chapter of National Anti-Doping Agency (NADO) that falls under RADO has already extricated a doping South African off-road race car driver who had tested positive for banned stimulants purportedly taken for bolstering the driver’s staying power and attentiveness levels from the physically and psychologically taxing 2013 Toyota 1000 Dessert race.
The RADO top-man also explained that apart from ensuring fair competition in the theatres of different sporting codes, ensuring display of innate and intrinsic physical abilities for appreciation by the viewership and different sporting stakeholders, anti-doping also protects the athletes themselves from the unlawful performance enhancing substances that precipitate debilitating lifelong and life threatening side effects which can cause the heart to enlarge and bulge, liver complications as well as the bursting of body muscles and altering of the body’s chemical composition which can give a female body male qualities, “we want to protect these youngster, protect their health and talent from ruin,” he said.
Kamanga said while RADO and NADO have competent local chaperones and Doping Control Officers (DCO’s) to screen the local athletes, the scarcity of funds to screen a wide breadth of local competitions inhibits their anti-doping mission and aspirations. He asserted that if they had financial means, they would be involved in a myriad of sporting contests even to the sporting developmental stages such as BISA, not only for screening but spreading the anti-doping gospel inculcating it at the grassroots levels.
RADO, Kamanga revealed, has made inroads into the Botswana’s sporting codes of football, netball and boxing by way of implementing an out-of-competition model where athletes are required to furnish their training schedule, ‘whereabouts’ and places of residence into the registered testing pool/priority pool allowing RADO and NADO’s DCOs to pounce on them for a snap bodily fluid test.
Besides the local codes, the doping agency is operating in cohorts with the super resourced and experienced South African Institute for Drug Free Sports and has begun to swoon on the junior South African rugby team that has been described as a fertile ground for the use of growth hormones, anabolic steroids as well as stimulants.
He also urged local athletes to familiarise themselves with the World Anti-Doping Code’s 2015 prohibited list which details all prohibited substances including commonly used Cannabis and alcohol which is prohibited in sports such as motorcycling, air sport and automobile racing which are all popular in Botswana as well as the harmonised rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency lest they get entrapped in the annals of sporting crime. He also emphasised compliance as refusal to get tested can earn a sportsman the same ban one would have gotten had they tested positive for drugs.
Sport
It’s do or die for Zebras
The senior national team, the Zebras, is currently in Equatorial Guinea to for an African Cup of Nations Qualifiers tie. Before they departed, the team’s coach, Mogomotsi Mpote, had his troops train in Morocco. This was through the agreement between the two countries.
The agreement between the BFA and the Fédération Moroccan Football Association states that the two nations will work together to organize friendly matches between their respective national teams. It also allows the establishment of football camps for the youth categories (U-15, U-17, and U-20), this includes women’s national teams.
The national team has played over 180 minutes in its two qualifying matches against Tunisia and Libya. Currently, the Zebras, Lesotho and Liberia are the only teams that haven’t scored yet in the competition (this is correct by press time on Friday).
Before the match against Equatorial Guinea match, the local boys who were once known as the whipping boys of Africa in the early 2000s, were languishing at the bottom of the log standings in group J. They lost their first match away to Libya on June 1, 2022. However, they managed to salvage a point against Tunisia last year.
Before the team left for Equatorial Guinea, coach Mpote urged his players to focus on keeping their hopes of making a return trip to the AFCON finals alive after an 11 year absence since the maiden appearance in 2012. He noted that they would not allow their opponents to score and would ensure that they would get a draw.
Despite the various changes that have occurred in the two countries’ football landscape, the two teams have only met once before. In 2010, the local boys defeated the Equatorial Guinea team in a friendly match, which ended in an emphatic win for the visitors. Since then, the two sides have realised different fortunes in FIFA rankings, with Equatorial Guinea ranked 51 places above the Zebras.
Meanwhile, in their last six games, Guinea has only managed to win one of them. They drew with Rwanda and Togo in September 2022 friendlies. They have found the back of the net just twice in their six games. On the other hand, the Zebras, won one match against Zambia and lost four on their way to finishing at the bottom of the group with four points. At the conclusion of their previous AFCON campaign, the local boys traveled to Zambia and secured a draw.
MPOTE CONFIDENT
Despite the recent results of the Guinean team, which have only managed to draw with Rwanda and Togo in their last six matches, coach Mpote is still confident that his team will perform well against the hosts.
According to the head coach, the local boys have the necessary skills and resources to perform well against any country. He noted that the team’s coaches have been studying abroad to gain a deeper understanding of the various aspects of football.
“Tactically they should also be ready. We need your (Botswana fans) usual support, when we come back from Equatorial Guinea, we will go to Francistown, and we will need you. You are our 12th player, and you are very important to us.”
OBED ITANI CHILUME STADIUM CERTIFIED
This week, the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSC) Tuelo Serufho revealed that the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium will host the return leg of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier between the local boys and Equatorial Guinea. The venue had initially failed an inspection test conducted by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). However, following the completion of the necessary works, the stadium was allowed to host the match.
According to BNSC Chief, Tuelo Serufho, the various requirements that the stadium must meet included having a designated parking area for the media and spectators, as well as having signage that will guide the spectators. He also noted that the venue now has a world-class media area.
Sport
Jagdish Shah rejects Rollers society
Township Rollers, one of the country’s most decorated football clubs with 15 premier league titles, is finding itself in a precarious situation as its long-term chief financier, Jagdish Shah, threatens to dump them if the society does not bow down to his demand of forfeiting their 20 percent interest in the company.
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Sport
Orange injects P350 000 into Phikwe marathon
Mobile network Orange Botswana is committed to supporting the development of local sport. Through its sponsorship, the company will be able to promote and market the sport. According to Maano Masisi, the company believes that sport can unite people from different backgrounds.
He stated that through the sponsorship of the marathon, the company will help promote healthy lifestyles and unity among the people of Selebi Phikwe.
The Selebi Phikwe Marathon is scheduled to take place on July 29, 2023. It is expected that it will attract international, regional, and social runners. A total of P216 000 has been allocated for the prize money for the first ten places in the 42.2 km race. For the 15km and 10km races, the LOC will give away prizes to the first five places.