Board chairman Paul Nenjerama revealed that they inherited a zero bank balance from the previous board and the promised government funding upon appointment last year has not yet arrived.
Nenjarama said they had also been promised they would get something from this year’s sports ministry budget. But that once again has remained a dream as nothing has been forthcoming.
“We inherited a zero account in terms of finance. There were no boxers, no promoters, no managers and no judges and we had to start from rock bottom without anything at all. Documents are either at home or in the boot of officials’ cars. We are using our own resources and I don’t know how far we will go with this,” said Nenjerama.
The board was appointed in January last year by the then minister of Education, Arts, Sports and Culture David Coltart, with a mandate to revive the sport that had been non-existent in the past 10 or so years.
Nenjerama said they had been able to register a few boxers but no promoters so far. He said they have strict requirement to register promoters in order to protect not only the boxers but also the public from being given a raw deal.
They had to suspend the only promoter registered after he failed to pay the required $301 for staging a tournament. The board had given the promoter the chance to pay the money after staging the tournament but he failed to do.
Boxers are required to pay $25 for annual registration while promoters have to pay $75. Boxing managers are charged $50. These fees are not enough to cover operation costs but this is all they can charge because of the economic situation.
Post published in: Sport