News / Local
David Coltart accuses local paper of racist slur
15 Aug 2012 at 06:35hrs | Views
David Coltart, Zimbabwe's Sports Minister has accused the NewsDay newspaper of aiming a racial slur at him.
Coltart, who is white, registered his objections after the newspaper, in its editorial comment on Tuesday, apportioned some blame on him for the Under 20 national team's failure to fulfil an international fixture in Angola over the weekend.
The trip was cancelled after ZIFA failed to raise $37,000 for air fares and hotels. The Young Warriors trailed 1-0 from the first leg of the Under 20 African Championships qualifier.
NewsDay said the minister had a "case to answer", adding: "For Coltart, we assume, sport is about cricket, hockey, rugby and tweeting about how Zimbabwe failed to support Kirsty Coventry in her latest Olympic medal bid.
"We have not heard anything from Coltart since ZIFA indicated late Friday that the boys will no longer be able to travel. But we have already heard that a welcome dinner for Team Zimbabwe will be held this Friday!"
In a letter to the newspaper on Tuesday evening, Coltart said he had noted "subtle racist innuendo" in the suggestion that he was only focused on white-dominated sports.
"That particular comment was something one expects to see in other papers, but not yours. An apology for that would not be out of order," Coltart said.
Coltart, whose ministry is joined with Education, said since last year, he had tried to convene a conference on ZIFA's financial problems, but accused the association's president Cuthbert Dube of snubbing him.
"Just last week, we bailed ZIFA out from precious Education Ministry funds for some US$90,000 debt due to Pandari Lodge. It is intolerable that a sport which should be self-financing such as football is in such a chaotic state that funds we can ill afford to divert from Education and other sports, have to be spent in this manner bailing out ZIFA," Coltart says in the letter.
He said the ministry could ill afford to bail out ZIFA when the education sector is "shamefully short of funds and other sports are in dire need as well".
"You should have pointed out, if you were being fair, that my ministry has to date only received six percent of the amount of money allocated to it, some US$5 million to run 8,000 schools and all sports, against some US$35 million, for example, being allocated to Defence in the same period.
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"How can possibly assist in paying for airfares when our ministry is so strapped for cash? Is it also proper that we should bail out football when children cannot go to school because they cannot pay fees? What is more important?"
Coltart also scorned NewsDay's suggestion that he should "close ZIFA".
"FIFA does not tolerate governmental interference in football. If we were to 'shut up ZIFA's shop', as you so glibly put it, Zimbabwe would be suspended from international football in a flash by FIFA, and NewsDay well knows that.
"So it is all very well to say that we should shut up the shop of ZIFA but NewsDay knows, if it is being fair and honest as journalists should be, that that is far easier said than done."
Coltart, who is white, registered his objections after the newspaper, in its editorial comment on Tuesday, apportioned some blame on him for the Under 20 national team's failure to fulfil an international fixture in Angola over the weekend.
The trip was cancelled after ZIFA failed to raise $37,000 for air fares and hotels. The Young Warriors trailed 1-0 from the first leg of the Under 20 African Championships qualifier.
NewsDay said the minister had a "case to answer", adding: "For Coltart, we assume, sport is about cricket, hockey, rugby and tweeting about how Zimbabwe failed to support Kirsty Coventry in her latest Olympic medal bid.
"We have not heard anything from Coltart since ZIFA indicated late Friday that the boys will no longer be able to travel. But we have already heard that a welcome dinner for Team Zimbabwe will be held this Friday!"
In a letter to the newspaper on Tuesday evening, Coltart said he had noted "subtle racist innuendo" in the suggestion that he was only focused on white-dominated sports.
"That particular comment was something one expects to see in other papers, but not yours. An apology for that would not be out of order," Coltart said.
Coltart, whose ministry is joined with Education, said since last year, he had tried to convene a conference on ZIFA's financial problems, but accused the association's president Cuthbert Dube of snubbing him.
"Just last week, we bailed ZIFA out from precious Education Ministry funds for some US$90,000 debt due to Pandari Lodge. It is intolerable that a sport which should be self-financing such as football is in such a chaotic state that funds we can ill afford to divert from Education and other sports, have to be spent in this manner bailing out ZIFA," Coltart says in the letter.
He said the ministry could ill afford to bail out ZIFA when the education sector is "shamefully short of funds and other sports are in dire need as well".
"You should have pointed out, if you were being fair, that my ministry has to date only received six percent of the amount of money allocated to it, some US$5 million to run 8,000 schools and all sports, against some US$35 million, for example, being allocated to Defence in the same period.
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"How can possibly assist in paying for airfares when our ministry is so strapped for cash? Is it also proper that we should bail out football when children cannot go to school because they cannot pay fees? What is more important?"
Coltart also scorned NewsDay's suggestion that he should "close ZIFA".
"FIFA does not tolerate governmental interference in football. If we were to 'shut up ZIFA's shop', as you so glibly put it, Zimbabwe would be suspended from international football in a flash by FIFA, and NewsDay well knows that.
"So it is all very well to say that we should shut up the shop of ZIFA but NewsDay knows, if it is being fair and honest as journalists should be, that that is far easier said than done."
Source - newsday
