Sports director blamed as Mat South is embarrassingly booted out of youth games

The National Youth Games have kicked off in Mutare with Matabeleland South province not participating in the games after being booted out of the games for failing to pay affiliation fees.

Sports and Recreation Council official Joseph Muchecheteri confirmed to media that the province's athletes were sent back to Matabeleland from Mutare before the start of the games for failing to comply with the rules of the games. According to the SRC each athlete is required to pay a games affiliation fee of $80 before taking part in the games.

Matabeleland South province is said to have gone to Mutare with a total of 140 athletes but with money only enough to pay for ten athletes. 130 of the athletes were immediately sent back to the province something which has never happened in the history of the games.

Contacted for a comment the Sports and Recreation Council director of the province Abinard Museve confirmed that the province had been kicked out of the games for failing to pay the affiliation fees. Museve could not give a clear reason why he allowed the team to be assembled and leave for Mutare well knowing that they did not have the funds required to participate in the games.

Sources within the team told media that the province knew well in advance that they were not going to be allowed to participate in the games without paying but Museve insisted on having the team assemble for camp at JZ Moyo High School in West Nicholson and let alone travel to Mutare.

"This is very embarrassing, we kept asking the director from the onset how we were going to participate in the games without the money but he always insisted even on us going to Mutare as if some miracle money was going to fall from the sky and pay for the young athletes," said the source.

An official within one of the sports under the SRC accused Museve for never giving himself enough attention to the issues of the province.

"We have a serious problem with Museve who has always openly told us that he is not from Matabeleland South and is not affected if things don't go well," said the official.

The Matabeleland South team drew young athletes from all the districts of the province from as far as Mangwe, Beitbridge and Insiza. The young athletes mostly from the rural areas of the province spent over a week in a training camp in Gwanda where their financial problems began as the team battled to get adequate food and training requirements.