Despite the non-payment, the Malawian delegation travelled to Maputo, some by air and some by road, only to be met by a firm refusal from the organizing committee. No money, no games.
Malawi has not paid its affiliation and contribution fees to Zone Six of the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa. According to Malawian sports journalist Patric Lunda, cited in the Malawi “Daily Times”, the amount owing to Zone Six is about 63,000 US dollars.
Furthermore, the Malawians had not paid for their accommodation in Maputo. Each sportsperson or manager staying at the Games Village must pay 40 US dollars a day (a cheap rate, when compared with Maputo hotels). For the Malawian delegation that would have been a further 8,000 dollars.
According to a second Malawian publication, the “Nyasa Times”, the failure to pay for accommodation meant that the Malawian athletes had to sleep in their bus.
“They could not be allocated accommodation without paying the money so they spent three days in a bus”, said the paper’s source. “It has been a sad experience for them.”
Malawi had intended to compete in athletics, swimming and taekwondo. The country’s dire shortage of foreign currency meant that the team paid its own way to enter Mozambique.
The Malawians claimed they were unaware that money had to be paid upfront. But according to the Games Organising Committee (COJA), several meetings were held with heads of mission, including from Malawi, at which all matters concerning the organisation of the games were discussed.
A spokesperson for the COJA information sub-commission told AIM that Malawi’s claim that it did not know about the forms of payment was absurd. There had been no such problem with the other 36 countries taking part.
Post published in: Sport