Semenya saga: management

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81

Chief suspended over Semenya row

November 06, 2009 8:37AM
By Mike Hurst
AS the lights went out at Athletics South Africa headquarters, controversial president Leonard Chuene and his entire board were suspended by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee.

The all-powerful SASCOC acted belatedly but with savage intent to end the madness that has been the ASA’s incompetent and ruthless management of the Caster Semenya affair in which Chuene lied when he said no sex tests had been conducted on their wondergirl in South Africa before she won the women’s 800m at the world athletics championships in Berlin on August 19.

Chuene, certainly with the support and perhaps even at the behest of some ANC government office-bearers, blatantly ignored firm medical advice not to permit Semenya to run in Berlin where she was first accused of “being a man”.

Now The Daily Telegraph has learned ASA’s office electricity was cut off due to non-payment of bills and the blundering federation has no more than 20,000 rand ($3300) in the bank.

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Sorry KitKat. The officials and administrator are being cut, but they can go back into the hole and get on with there lives. Semenya athletic career and life as it stands at the moment is not great.

I hope I am proven wrong about this.

83

My apols to you. What I thought you were saying was that Semenya was the Only person who was being messed up. Certainly her life and career are in strife. But the board have all been suspended and ridiculed in every media around the world, including saturation coverage in Sth Africa. It would be hard for anyone in RSA to trust anything Chuene had to say ever again, so how you anyone employ him. He’s such a snake anyway, why would anyone want to…

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I read today that ASA owe 1,5 million rand, some (all?) athletes are still owed prizemoney from 2007. Athletes have complained about cheap (& nasty) gear, lack of support, team members treated along racial lines - blacks being allowed to fly from Berlin to SA to sit exams and then were flown back to Berlin, while whites were allowed to fly home also for exams, but would not have their fare paid back to berlin… this whole ASA expose started with a gender issue and has now been revealed as a racial issue.

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fROM tHE tIMES OF sOUTH aFRICA
[u]but the real story is at the bottom of the page[/u]

FINAL CALL FOR THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ASA TO RESIGN

9 November 2009

On 30 September 2009 three of ASA’s member provinces called upon the Board of Athletics South Africa to explain why they did not disclose from the outset that tests had been conducted, on ASA’s instruction, on a South African athlete before the World Championships in Athletics; why the ASA Council meeting in Tshwane was not notified of this fact; why the ASA members were not notified that they had not been told the truth before the press conference was held on 19 September 2009 and to disclose what other facts, if any, they had been concealing. They were further called upon to explain why no action has been taken against any officials or employees of ASA who were party to the ordering of the tests and the events that followed.

The ASA Board never responded. It is now clear that ASA could not respond, as it had chosen to and had done tests; it had deliberately and consciously misled ASA’s members at the Tshwane meeting; it had no intention of ever telling the truth; and the facts they were concealing would inevitably bring about their own downfall. No steps were taken against any officials or employees, as the entire Board was directly implicated themselves.

At the Special General Meeting on 24 September 2009, the meeting unanimously agreed that ASA would co-operate with any statutory commission of enquiry. That commission of enquiry has taken its course, but the Board of ASA is now not happy with the outcome and seeks to contest it through legal means. The ASA Board does not have the mandate of all its member provinces to engage in any legal proceedings against SASCOC.

On 9 October 2009 a formal request was made for ASA’s most recent financial statements. On 19 October 2009 the General Manager of ASA asked for time to the end of that week to respond. To date there has been no response and, in breach of the Companies Act, no financial statements have been distributed.

On 5 November 2009 the Board of ASA issued an apology. However, the apology came only after the findings of a task team of one political party, and when it was clear that the game was up. Most importantly, there was no apology to the members of ASA who were lied to repeatedly.

Subsequent reports have shown that the management of ASA is riddled with corruption, ineptitude and outright incompetence. There is a very real risk that ASA is insolvent, which will prejudice ASA’s athletes, members and suppliers.

The response of the members of the ASA Board to all these developments has been to attack everyone else and to try to introduce race into the matter. There is no question that everyone wishes to see South Africa transformed from the dark days of the past, and the current ASA Board are not the only ones who seek to achieve that. The quest for a non-racial society and non-racial sport is not negotiable.

It has become clear that the Board of Athletics South Africa has no respect for either the truth or the members of ASA. It is also clear that the ASA Board will not hesitate to waste further money on yet more futile legal action. While the members of the Board are protecting their own positions, the sport and the athletes suffer. Athletics South Africa is now, in differing degrees, in conflict with the International Association of Athletics Federation, the South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee and all political parties in South Africa. There is no clearer indication that the Board of ASA has brought the organisation into disrepute.

[b]The members of the Board of Athletics South Africa are called upon to reconsider their decision to not resign. However, should they fail to do so by 12:00 on Wednesday morning, they will risk facing the following consequences:

  1. Formal charges will be laid with the ASA Disciplinary Committee against each individual member of the ASA Board for bringing the sport of Athletics and ASA into disrepute and also for violating the ASA constitution.

The Disciplinary Committee shall be requested to expel the individuals concerned from ASA and to ban them for life.

  1. A Special General Meeting of ASA will be called to consider a motion of impeachment against each individual member of the ASA Board.

  2. Criminal charges shall be laid against each individual member of the ASA Board for various breaches of the Companies Act, including the failure to provide members with financial statements despite a direct request.

  3. Criminal charges will be laid against each individual member of the ASA Board for fraud, for intentionally lying to the members of ASA on 12 September 2009, with the intention of causing them to act to their prejudice or potential prejudice.

Further, should ASA fail to pay to all athletes all outstanding and overdue prize moneys and to pay to all member provinces all moneys owing to them for hosting ASA events, legal steps will be taken to recover such moneys.

The individual ASA Board members are advised that should it prove to be the case that ASA is in fact insolvent, they will face the full impact of the law, and should it be shown that they were involved in reckless trading they will be held personally liable.[/b]
The members of the ASA Board and their supporters are called upon to place the interests of the sport first.

Statement made on behalf of:
Athletics Free State
Boland Athletics
Eastern Province Athletics
Western Province Athletics

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Now ASA board may be fired
Beauregard Tromp
November 12 2009 at 07:53AM Get IOL on your
mobile at m.iol.co.za

Submit your comment
The Athletics South Africa board is likely to be scrapped altogether as members embroiled in the Caster Semenya saga continue to defy an order for their suspension.

The battle has left a number of top local athletes, who depend on prize money, anxious.

Late last week, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) decided to suspend the entire board of ASA pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation.

The board refused to heed the call and, led by ASA chairman Leonard Chuene, have reportedly been arriving for duty this week at the ASA offices in Houghton, Joburg.

‘ASA has a constitution that cannot be overridden by Sascoc’
“Their lawyers said that if we send in an administrator, they will interdict us. So we thought that maybe we should get rid of ASA altogether,” said a clearly peeved Sascoc chairman Gideon Sam.

They were waiting for a recommendation from the International Association of Athletics Federation before moving ahead with the removal of the entire ASA board.
Continues Below ↓

Meanwhile, Sascoc board member and former Cricket SA president Ray Mali has been appointed as administrator of ASA and mandated to form a board comprising members from the athletics board.

The interim ASA board would in turn constitute a disciplinary body to look into the handling of the Semenya issue and allegations of mismanagement.

The debacle surrounding ASA has split South African athletics, with four provincial bodies threatening legal action against their board if they fail to resign.

In a further twist, an SMS was allegedly circulated by ASA general manager Molatelo Malehopo in which he encourages provincial unions to stand by ASA and reject the “legally bankrupt” Sascoc’s suspension.

“ASA has a constitution that cannot be overridden by Sascoc, who have an insatiable quest to remove Chuene because of his contribution to transformation of sport in this country. Sascoc is not a transformed structure, who want to use the Caster issue to purge the ASA leadership without due process,” the message read.

Malehopo would not comment.

He and Chuene were singled out as having known about the sex tests carried out in South Africa before Semenya competed at the World Championships in Berlin In August.

In the meantime, athletes continue to come forward claiming money owed to them by ASA, the most prominent being world champion marathon runner Hendrick Ramaala.

“It’s frustrating because you plan for the money. Many of the other guys don’t have sponsorship and don’t have other sources of income. If you don’t pay them on time they can’t eat. Some of the guys are borrowing money to make ends meet,” said Ramaala, who is South Africa’s marathon record holder and has won the New York Marathon twice.

He said attempts to contact ASA were fruitless, with people in the finance department telling him they were still waiting for cheques - although sponsor Nedbank confirmed they had released the money months before.

This article was originally published on page 5 of The Star on November 12, 2009

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Athletics South Africa waiting on IAAF
Publish on Nov 12th, 2009

Johannesburg – Athletics South Africa (ASA) will for the time being remain eligible to compete in international events sanctioned by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Last week SASCOC suspended ASA, but on Wednesday morning the federation named a provisional team to compete at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland next March.

Later in the day SASCOC president Gideon Sam confirmed the federation would be allowed to compete in IAAF events until SASCOC received a response from the world governing body for the sport.

“They can enter IAAF events until such time as the IAAF recognises our suspension,” Sam said.

“We have sent them a letter, informing them that ASA has been suspended, and we are waiting for them to get back to us.”

Despite the board’s suspension, along with some members of senior management, business is continuing as usual at the ASA head office in Johannesburg.

The board and suspended employees have vowed to fight SASCOC’s decision, saying the Olympic body does not have the power to take action against individual ASA employees.

IAAF spokesman Nick Davies was unavailable for comment.

—Sapa

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The Sowetan newspaper

Olympic body accused of ASA vendetta
10 November 2009
Mcelwa Nchabeleng and Ramatsiyi Moholoa

TARGET : ASA’s Leonard Chuene

PARLIAMENT has summoned the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee to Cape Town for an explanation of the suspension of Athletics South Africa.

Sascoc will brief politicians on November 17 on their decision to suspend the ASA, its president Leonard Chuene, deputy Kakata Maponyane and certain ASA staff members.

ASA affiliates accused Sascoc of using the Caster Semenya gender-verification tests saga to revive their long- held plot to remove the embattled ASA boss from the federation.

Sascoc caused a storm last Thursday when it suspended Chuene and the entire ASA over its handling of the Semenya tests.

ASA has instructed top lawyer Monty Hacker to challenge its suspension, which was applauded by Makhenkesi Stofile, the minister of sport and recreation.

The athletics administrators said the Olympic body “does not have the authority to suspend Chuene and ASA”, adding that Sascoc also must stop dealing directly with ASA provinces.

Gauteng North Athletics vice-president John Mathane said: “Sascoc took an unpopular decision without approaching the board of ASA.

“They were supposed to have approached the board with their recommendations.

“It is the council that has the power to suspend the president and the board, not Sascoc.”

Said Mpumalanga Athletics president Ben Makola: “Sascoc has a problem of its own, which they should address as a matter of urgency. They are against transformation.”

Eastern Cape athletics boss John Ncinane said: “The appointment of Ray Mali by Sascoc as the interim leader of ASA is a recipe for disaster.

“Ray is a cricket leader, there is no transformation in cricket. There is a hidden agenda because athletics is doing well in transformation and our athletes are also winning medals.

“There are problems in soccer after the Safa elections but Sascoc is not intervening. Sascoc and the department of sport and recreation undermine athletics because it is run mainly by black people.”

[b]Sascoc president Gideon Sam said they suspended ASA in the best interests of the sport, and that there were no hidden agendas.

[/b]

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By REUTERS
Published: November 19, 2009

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – South African runner Caster Semenya will keep her 800-meter gold medal from the world championships, and the results of her gender tests will be kept confidential, the South African sports ministry said Thursday.
Skip to next paragraph Reuters

The ministry also said in a statement that the International Association of Athletics Federations has agreed to allow the 18-year-old Semenya to keep her prize money.

“Whatever scientific tests were conducted legally within the IAAF regulations will be treated as a confidential matter between patient and doctor,” the sports ministry said. “As such there will be no public announcement of what the panel of scientists has found. We urge all South Africans and other people to respect this professional ethical and moral way of doing things.”

On Wednesday, the IAAF said the gender tests performed on Semenya had not yet been completed. The body had been expected to announce its findings Friday.

Before the 800 final in Berlin, the IAAF said it had ordered gender tests because of Semenya’s muscular build and rapid improvement in times. The case set off a storm in South Africa, and the IAAF was accused of violating her privacy. South African track officials were accused of failing to protect her.

Australian newspapers said in September that Semenya has male and female sexual organs, but the IAAF has refused to confirm or deny those reports.

After Athletics South Africa president Leonard Chuene admitted he lied about tests being conducted before the worlds, South African Olympic committee officials suspended him and the rest of the track body’s 12-member board.

The Olympic committee appointed one of its members, Ray Mali, as ASA’s administrator. When Mali moved into the track body’s Johannesburg offices this week, one suspended ASA official had to be escorted from the premises by police.

The sports ministry said Thursday it had asked the IAAF to apologize for its role, and had received this response: “It is deeply regrettable that information of a confidential nature entered the public domain.”

The IAAF also told the sports ministry it was not the source of leaks about the case.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/19/sports/sports-athletics-semenya.html?_r=2&hp

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I’ll wait and see the official IAAF release.

91

and this is why… :rolleyes:

[i]Athletics: IAAF deny Semenya deal
The International Association of Athletics Federations insists no deal has been struck allowing Caster Semenya to keep her World Championships gold.

The IAAF have contested a statement issued by South Africa’s Department of Sport and Recreation saying the athlete can keep her 800m title.

An IAAF spokesman said: “The case is not closed for us. The situation is the same as it was.”[/i]
http://www.teletext.co.uk/sportnews/news/d530bf1ada6feb177339f889b1e72e13/Athletics+IAAF+deny+Semenya+deal.aspx

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THANKS JOHN FOR KEEPING US ALL UP TO SPEED :cool:

AND WELL, WHAT DO YU KNOW, THE SOUTH AFRICANS HAVE SCREWED EVERYTHING UP AGAIN…:rolleyes:

As predicted (and as we all instinctively realised even before the IAAF’s “clarrification”) yesterday, this case was far from done:

THE Caster Semenya saga continues, and contrary to one headline, the case is far from “closed”.

If there is a question about Semenya’s sex, and for whatever reasons medical gender verification tests have not been finalised, then she will henceforth be ineligible to compete in women-only events internationally - until such tests have been completed enabling “experts” to clear her - or otherwise.

The International Association of Athletics Federations is under the legal gun to say nothing about Semenya’s “medical condition” but the fact that this remains “unfinished business” will eventually come to light next time she wishes to run for South Africa in an IAAF-sanctioned event.

Giving her the money, medal and title for her win in the women’s 800m at the world championships in Berlin in August is just a way of the IAAF satisfying the lawyers in the interim.

And a device by which the hysteria in Sth Africa can be hosed down until such time as there are people installed at Athletics South Africa who are rational, intelligent and above all scrupulous enough to see the big picture. That process is underway with the interim administrator Ray Mali now in the Athletics South Africa office - having had the incumbent knucklehead removed by the cops!

The IAAF were caught in an impossible position with the Semenya situation from the outset. When asked point-blank whether this man-like athlete was having a sex test, they could have lied like ASA president Leonard Chuene, or told the truth.

In deciding to tell the truth, the lawyers worked the game as a breach of Semenya’s privacy. So Chuene is under threat of prosecution for lying and the IAAF (until today’s “settlement”) was under threat of prosecution for not lying!

Under the lawyers’ threat, the Semenya saga had reached an impasse, so the IAAF - indeed also to save their own skin - agreed (happily I dare say) to allowing Semenya to keep the proceeds of her Berlin adventure just to be in a situation whereby legal threats were removed and matters may now progress.

But to be clear, the Semenya saga may slide under the radar for a time, but a resolution on her future running career remains far from finalised and until it is, her appearance on the world stage cannot be sanctioned.

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no probs. The local paper today (Saturday) ran the SA version saying all sorted and she would keep her medal. Bloody journos :stuck_out_tongue: took me 20 seconds on Google 2 days earlier to clear that up.

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IAAF still in talks over Caster
By Graham Dunbar From: AP November 21, 2009 6:00PM

THE IAAF said it is still working behind the scenes with Caster Semenya and the South African government to resolve issues about the 18-year-old runner’s gender identity and future career.

The governing body of track said it cannot confirm the South African sports ministry’s claims of a deal allowing Semenya to keep the 800m world title and prize money she won in August, and maintain privacy over her gender test results.

International Association of Athletics Federations spokesman Nick Davies said the parties are "almost there’’ in concluding complex negotiations.

"It is premature to discuss the contents of what (the South African government) said until we’re ready to say, yes, that we totally agree with it,’’ Davies said. "This is being handled carefully at one level politically, but also in the medical-scientific realm.

"Obviously we are working flat-out quietly behind the scenes to resolve it. Fingers crossed, we will be able to get there very quickly.’’

The circumstances under which Semenya could resume her track career remain unclear. Davies said questions would not be resolved during a two-day meeting of the IAAF’s ruling council which began on Friday in Monaco.

The IAAF had been expected to confirm test results during the sessions, but said on Wednesday the subject was off the agenda while medical testing would continue.

"These people are being trusted to continue their work, and they were congratulated for the work they’ve been doing because it hasn’t been at all easy,’’ Davies said in a break from council meetings.

On Thursday, South Africa’s sports ministry revealed an apparent deal which would allow Semenya to keep her gold medal and her medical records confidential. Semenya won the women’s 800 at the world championships in Berlin in August, clocking a season’s best time of 1 minute, 55.45 seconds.

The IAAF said hours before the race that it ordered gender tests to be conducted because of her muscular build and rapid improvement in times.

The Daily Telegraph reported in September that Semenya has male and female sexual organs, but the IAAF has refused to confirm or deny those claims.

In South Africa, the case has also entangled the president of the South African athletics federation, Leonard Chuene. In September, Chuene admitted he lied about his knowledge of gender tests performed on Semenya in South Africa before the worlds. He has since been suspended.

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We want a voice in ASA, say athletes

November 21 2009 at 10:52AM

Get IOL on your
mobile at m.iol.co.za

By Mogomotsi Magome

South African athletes have embarked on a massive campaign to take their proper place in South African athletics following the recent chaos that has characterised Athletics South Africa (ASA).

A collective of former and current South African athletes yesterday declared it wanted at least a 50 percent representation on the ASA board.

According to the athletes, this is the only way the interests of athletes can be addressed by the administration, which they claim has failed to do so over recent years.

Prominent athletes leading the drive include Hezekiel Sepeng, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, Khotso Mokoena, Hendrick Ramaala, Geraldine Pillay, LJ van Zyl and Shadrack Hoff.
Continues Below ↓

The athletes’ stance comes shortly after the athletics body was placed under administration following the suspension of its president Leonard Chuene and the entire board over the handling of the Caster Semenya saga.

Speaking at a press conference yesterday, former 100m and 200m champion Pillay said they had complained about how the ASA handled their affairs for many years but their complaints had fallen on deaf ears. "This is about protecting the future of South African athletics and has nothing to do with personal agendas. We have a situation where athletics in South Africa has been administered badly and if we do not step up now there will be no changes.

“If things remain like this we have no idea which direction athletics will go in this country,” she said.

[b]Some of the complaints by the athletes include the loss of sponsorships for the athletes, with Nedbank’s suspension of its sponsorship a notable example of the problems. Said 800m Olympic silver medallist Sepeng: "As athletes we are now finding it hard to get personal sponsorships because many sponsors do not want to be associated with the ASA.

“The Caster Semenya issue did not spur what we are doing now; it only shed light to the entire country about the manner in which athletics was administered in South Africa.”[/b]

SA steeplechase runner Ruben Ramolefi said more than 150 professional athletes around the country were backing the initiative.

"We have spoken to athletes in all the provinces across the country and they are of the same view that we are presenting here.

“There has also been a petition that has been circulated among the athletes and there has been overwhelming support from them, because this has been happening for a long time. For many years this has been talked about between athletes on tours and competitions,” said Ramolefi.

The athletes are expected to meet to discuss, among others, the names of athletes who should be elected to the board of the ASA.

o This article was originally published on page 4 of Pretoria News on November 21, 2009

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Chaos at ASA meeting
Nov 21, 2009 2:58 PM | By Sapa

Chaos erupted after the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) named an interim Athletics South Africa (ASA) board.

Multimedia
Inside SA’s athletics crisis
Members of Central Gauteng Athletics who were not allowed in the meeting, said the provincial association had no mandate to nominate James Moloi onto the interim board.

“We will give a vote of no confidence against this board,” said Mems Moosa, secretary of CGA’s non-established clubs.

“This is an interim measure but democracy will have the last say.”

KwaZulu-Natal members also complained the figures representing their province had no mandate, but interim board member and former sprinter Geraldine Pillay, said the member associations were welcome to pass votes of no confidence within their provinces, adding that six more board members could be added to the nine elected on Saturday.

Pillay, who managed to settle the chaos caused by provincial representatives outside after the meeting adjourned, said she was not entirely happy with the make-up of the interim board, but hoped the state of the sport would improve following a restructuring of the federation.

Elite South African athletes said on Friday they wanted 50% representation on the board. Four of the nine elected are current or former athletes.

“I would have liked more former athletes on the board, but if this group works hard we can restore the image of athletics in South Africa,” she said.

The suspended ASA board will face disciplinary hearings for their handling of the Caster Semenya gender fiasco.

Sascoc board member Ray Mali took over the ASA administration on Monday and will work with the interim board in mending the problems facing the embattled federation which is reportedly in financial crisis.

The interim board consists of Alex Skhosana, James Mokoka, Hendrick Ramaala, James Evans, Daan Louw, James Moloi, Geraldine Pillay, Peter Lourens, Blanche Moila.

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ASA living from month-to-month admits Mali
Saturday, 21 November 2009

November 21 - Ray Mali (pictured), the acting President of Athletics South Africa (ASA), has admitted that the organisation’s finances are in a perilous state and that auditors have been brought in to examine the situation.

He will reveal the full details when the new interim Board meets for the first time next week.

The group, which includes former New York City Marathon winner Hendrick Ramaala, have replaced the Board sacked earlier this month by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) for their role in the Caster Semenya gender scandal.

There are claims that Leonard Chuene, suspended as President after he admitted lying about his role in the affair, removed several financial records before he leave, something Mali has refused to comment on, although he did confirm the extent of the money problems.

Mali said: "I must admit, they’re bad.

"They’re bleak.

"It’s a question of living from month to month.

“The situation is bad but we do have people who are prepared to come and assist.”

Ramaala said: "As athletes we don’t trust the old administrators - they couldn’t stand up for the athletes.

"But now they’re wearing different jackets, now they’re for transformation all of a sudden.

"Sometimes you need revolutions to change things.

“I’m sick and tired of people coming into the sport for their own gain, for positions.”

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Sascoc is confident
26 November 2009
Ramatsiyi Moholoa - ramatsiyi@sowetan.co.za

BRIEFED : IAAF president Lamine Diack

POSITIVE: Sascoc president Gideon Sam

We’ll turn ASA around in six months – SamTHE South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) reckons six months will be enough for them to restore the image of Athletics South Africa.

This will also be enough time for Sascoc to hold elections for a new executive committee for the national athletics body.
This according to Sascoc president Gideon Sam after their meeting with IAAF president Lamine Diack in Monaco on Tuesday night.
He updated Diack, the Senegalese billionaire, on the ASA’s ad hoc committee set up at the weekend. Sam, who was accompanied by Sascoc chief executive Tubby Reddy, also briefed the world athletics body’s chief about the appointment of Sascoc board member Ray Mali as ASA administrator.
The interim board was elected after Sascoc suspended the Leonard Chuene- led ASA board over its handling of the Caster Semenya gender verification tests.
Diack was informed of the suspension of the board and certain senior staff members, pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.
Sam said they had set themselves a time limit of six months to get the ASA’s house in order, adding that they were happy with the progress of the committee led by Mali.
“We also do not want to rush the process because we want to make sure the body that has been put in place at the ASA is going to turn the federation around,” he said.
“We are taking each day as it comes and we hope everything will go smoothly. We hope it will be the same with the elections. The meeting with the IAAF president was a positive one and we are looking forward to reorganising Athletics South Africa .”

IAAF officials have refused to comment on the Semenya saga, saying they were awaiting the results of medical tests on the University of Pretoria student.

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Interim ASA board focuses on next season

November 28 2009 at 02:39PM  Get IOL on your

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It was all systems go for Athletics South Africa on Saturday as the nine-member interim board met with ASA administrator Ray Mali with the focus on the coming domestic season and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Mali described the board as “a wonderful bunch of people” but said a permanent executive needed to be in place as soon as possible and it was paramount that the sport and the athletes did not suffer while the crumbled federation was rebuilt.

"The big challenge now is to prepare for next year with the Commonwealth Games, and looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics in London.
Continues Below ↓

“Our preparation for these events needs to progress and stay on course,” said Mali, a board member of Sascoc, South Africa’s Olympic governing body.

“Our domestic season will continue and by the end of April we must have a new board in place.”

A Sascoc enquiry into the federation continues after ASA president Leonard Chuene and his executive were suspended with members of senior staff for the numerous problems facing the embattled federation, reportedly in financial crisis. The suspended members, many of whom played roles in the Caster Semenya gender fiasco, face disciplinary hearings.

Mali said they had met with representatives from Nedbank, ASA’s road running sponsor who withdrew a year early from a five-year deal two months ago, and track and field sponsors Yellow Pages, who have yet to confirm a new deal after their contract with the federation ended at the end of last season. He said both sponsors had agreed to renegotiate ahead of the new season.

“We had sessions yesterday and both sponsors are on board,” Mali said at the ASA office in Houghton after the two-day meeting.

Interim board member and former New York marathon champion Hendrick Ramaala, said he was relieved that athletes held one third of the seats on the board.

Former sprinter Geraldine Pillay, who won two medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, and former long distance runner Blanche Moila, who was the first black female athlete to receive Springbok colours, were also voted on to the interim board last weekend.

“We will fight hard to ensure the athletes have a real say,” said Ramaala.

“This office has been dirty for a long time now and it’s time to clean it up.” - Sapa

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ASA gets set for 2010 track and field season
30 November 2009
Ramatsiyi Moholoa

ATHLETICS South Africa interim board has assured athletes that the 2010 track and field season will get under way in January as per tradition.

Hendrick Ramaala, interim board member, said they were working as a collective to put together “a great show” for the season opener series.

In the past, the series was sponsored by Yellow Pages which are set to make a comeback alongside Nedbank.

The two companies withdrew from ASA after the Caster Semenya gender verification debacle, which resulted in the suspension of the Leonard Chuene-led board.

The companies assured the interim board on Saturday where they made it clear they were keen to continue assisting ASA financially, but will be more involved in the planning.

“The track and season is definitely on, but we are working hard to get a sponsorship ,” said Ramaala.

The internationally renowned athlete said they needed to create a platform to enable athletes to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in India in 2010.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel, I was happy in the manner in which Ray Mali (ASA administrator) handled our first meeting.

“Ray is a great leader, I strongly believe we should let him continue as chairperson and interim president of the board until the elections.”

Mali said: “The big challenge now is to prepare for next year with the Commonwealth Games, and looking ahead to the 2012 Olympics in London.

“Our preparation for these events needs to progress and stay on course. Our domestic season will continue and by the end of April we must have a new board in place.”

Sascoc project manager Khaya Majeke is working with interim board members James Evans (Western Province) and Aleck Skhosana (KwaZulu-Natal) to draw up the programme.

Sowetan has learnt that plans are already under way to get a chief executive officer for ASA sometime next year, with names of Banele Sindani and Dumile Mateza, also bandied about.