Boxer snatches mini Olympic Games kit
Amateur boxer Secret Chirwa seized mini-Olympic Games attire in protest about lack of medical treatment for head injuries he suffered during the three-day event which ended on Saturday at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe.
Chirwa confirmed yesterday that he returned to his Nkhata Bay home with some boxing attire due to Malawi Boxing Association (Maba) and the event’s organising committee neglect.
“I was so bitter I could not just leave with a battered face without getting medical treatment, let alone cash prizes as is usually the case. TNM and others donated K7 million towards the event. It was unfair for those who did the donkey work to get nothing when volunteers pocketed K5 000 per day,” complained the boxer who lost in the 64 kilogrammes category to an opponent he could only recall as Golani.
In a separate interview, Gabriel Chirwa, Maba’s amateur boxing committee vice-general secretary, said he was paying for the boxer’s medical treatment due to Maba’s neglect.
“He is badly hurt. He refused to surrender the kit as, in the absence of any recognition, he felt people back home would, with his wounds, view him as a mere criminal. Maba is doing bad things, running the tournament which belongs to the amateurs’ committee,” Chirwa claimed on Tuesday.
Maba vice-president Henry Sakala accused Gabriel Chirwa of having a hidden agenda, adding that the association actually gave him money for a return bus fare, a day after his arrival in Lilongwe after he fell ill.
“Amateur athletes, including boxers, do not receive cash prizes. We are not even aware about the boxer’s injury. His manager should have informed the organising committee. Maba took charge after Malawi Olympic Committee asked us to identify athletes. They dealt with mother associations and not subcommittees,” Sakala explained.
Gabriel Chirwa challenged that he only got K5 000 when one-way bus fare from Lilongwe to Mzuzu costs K4 300 while connecting to Nkhata Bay, the fare is pegged K1 200, “and I used my money going there and it has not been refunded.”
Secret Chirwa also challenged Sakala’s claim on the money, arguing that he has pocketed money from several domestic amateur bouts and he would not have dared to travel to Lilongwe if he knew there were no cash prizes.
Chairperson of the mini-Olympic Games, James Mwenda, said they hired qualified doctors to treat athletes of each sport. He said there was also an overall medical committee.
“We do not have missing uniform, so this is not true. And, in Olympic Games, medals and not money are given to winners,” said Mwenda.
