“Most of the boxers have not gone through the testing yet. I am not sure whether it is because they cannot afford the US$60 required for the Hepatitis B test or that they are scared of the results,” said Mkondiwa. “But still. No boxer will be allowed to participate in any tournament until they produce the results.”
Mkondiwa said the board has cancelled all fighting licences until the boxers undergo the mandatory tests adding that only those boxers issued with licences now would be allowed to fight in Zimbabwe or represent the country outside. ??It is an international requirement that a boxer has to produce a clean HIV and Hepatitis B test for him to be allowed get involved in fights. ??
The ZBBC has issued a directive that all boxers have to go through these tests for Zimbabwe to conform to international rules.??On March 24, the Zimbabwean board was heavily criticised by the World Boxing Organisation when four of the six boxers they had sent for an international tournament in Namibia failed their tests.
7.8.2009
15:46
Zimbabwean Boxers Resist HIV Tests
Harare - There has been a lot of resistance from Zimbabwean boxers to undergo the mandatory HIV and Hepatitis B tests, the Zimbabwe Boxing Board of Control (ZBBC) has revealed. The Board's secretary Patrick Mkondiwa said the board was concerned with the boxers response as most of them had not heeded the call to get tested.