GBA hunting answers after failing to meet Olympic Qualifiers deadline
The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has once again found itself fighting on the ropes as it failed to meet a February 24 deadline to pay for accommodation and meals for a handpicked team of eight to participate at the quickly approaching Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers in Argentina.
The team of male boxers: Keevin Allicock, Colin Lewis, Desmond Amsterdam and Dennis Thomas
According to GBA President Steve Ninvalle, a request to the Government of Guyana (GoG) through the National Sports Commission (NSC) for support received a negative response while the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) had pledged US$5000 to assist in airfares back in January.
“The National Sports Commission (NSC) said it was unable to assist at this time, since it has no budget while President of the GOA, Mr K Juman Yassin, SC, AA had pledged $5000 USD for airfares,” Ninvalle told media operatives.
The cost of accommodation and meals for the team of eight (five boxers and threes coaches) in Argentina is just over US$11,000. Meanwhile, airfare per person currently costs a whopping US$1800.
Earlier this year, the GOA and the GoG joined efforts to send a team of four boxers to Cuba for a three-month preparation stint leading up to the Qualifiers. The team along with two boxers departed on January 4 and are still in Cuba.
The GBA boss added that he recently dispatched a letter to GOA President Yassin seeking clarification, after it was revealed to him that sister Caricom countries had their entire travel and accommodation costs relating to participating at the Olympic Qualifiers, footed by their respective National Olympic Associations.
“The boxing Presidents of Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St Lucia and the list goes on, have confirmed that they are participating based solely on input from their NOCs. In view of this recent revelation, I have asked for a clarification on why Guyana seems to be the anomaly,” Ninvalle disclosed.
The Olympic Qualifiers are scheduled for Argentina from March 26 to April 3. The GBA has selected Colin Lewis, Desmond Amsterdam, Keevin Allicock, Dennis Thomas and Canada-based Taveena Kum as the team of boxers to represent Guyana. The coaches accompanying the team will be Terrence Poole, MS, Sebert Blake and Francisco Roldan.
