The team was already in camp, but association president, Tony Kamangira, said they were still $4,000 short. “The players have been training hard and are in shape to win the competition, but we are yet to raise the money that we require to travel. We are appealing to sponsors to help us,” said Kamangira.
Brighton Tangata, Malvern Kaura, Nicholas Karimira, and Donald Deketeke had been picked to represent Zimbabwe at the competition. “This is an opportunity of a lifetime and they want to prove to the whole of Africa what they are capable of doing. We are still hoping that something will soon come up,” said Kamangira.
Kickboxing is not the only sport suffering from lack of sponsorship and calls have been made for the government to finance national teams when they take part in international competitions.