The four-member judging panel, led by respected former football referee Felix Tangawarima, had to reschedule their meeting from last Friday to Tuesday this week, after referring back to the Sports and Recreation Commission (who short-listed the candidates) for “further clarification” some of the candidates’ citations, which had been discovered to have contained inaccurate, if not false, data. Â
The discovery meant as of Monday, the various category winners had still not been decided upon, throwing preparations for the live television transmission of the awards ceremony on Friday into disarray.
What is said to have alerted the judges, who were never involved in the nomination process, was an entry on tennis star, Car Black, who is one of five nominees vying for the Sportswoman of the Year award.
Cara is loosely referred to have “won nine events during the year and was crowned women’s doubles world champion,’ yet the SRC had only managed to name four occasions in which the tennis ace had actually won a title on the professional circuit.
Meanwhile, world swimming champion Kirsty Coventry appears well on course to defend her Sportsperson of the Year award, after it emerged one of her closest challengers – Benjani Mwaruwari – has not struck it with the judges, who are using a “point system” to grade the various contenders’ achievements.
Post published in: News