The row over the Eastern Cape amateur boxing championships continued to rage after the Buffalo City Metro and Sarah Baartman District teams staged a walkout at the finals held in KwaBhaca (formerly Mount Frere) at the weekend.
The two districts were aggrieved after some of their boxers were disqualified from progressing to the finals due to late verifications.
However, BCM officials insinuated that the move was designed to sabotage the team from continuing its dominance of the provincial team to be selected from the championships and compete at the national cadets and junior championships in Kimberley in October.
A flood of calls from disgruntled handlers of the boxers inundated the Daily Dispatch after a large number of the fighters were not allowed to compete at the finals.
However, BCM team manager Zukiswa Simatu, who had earlier confirmed the move but requested written questions to be sent to her, could not shed more light on why the group of 64 boxers decided to walk out.
But one of four team coaches, Olwethu Zaza, said the standoff stemmed from medical results captured on cellphones being turned down, with organisers demanding they be submitted in hard copy format.
“The organisers insisted there were discrepancies in how they were reflected on cellphones on our day of arrival on Friday,” he said.
However, the team, drastically reduced after some of the medicals were rejected, continued to compete on Friday and Saturday, with the majority of boxers qualifying for the finals on Sunday.
Zaza said when the boxers submitted hard copy results, they were informed that the verification process was already closed, blocking some from competing in the finals.
This led to the entire BCM team staging a walkout, with Sarah Baartman, another region renowned for producing the best boxers for the Eastern Cape team, following suit.
BCM amateur body secretary Smally Menziwa, who also serves as treasurer at the Eastern Cape Amateur Boxing Organisation (Ecabo), said all the districts were informed during their championships that medicals would be required to be submitted in hard copy and not in any electronic format.
“It was not only BCM that was affected by the rule but other districts had their boxers blocked,” he said.
Ecabo secretary Akhona Joni shot down accusations of sabotaging the BCM team due to fears of dominating the provincial team, insisting they decided to walk out of their own accord.
“All districts were aware of the rules, and Ecabo did not target any of them,” he said.
The Alfred Nzo Amateur Boxing Organisation (Anabo), which organised the event for the first time in association with the Umzimvubu municipality and the provincial sports, recreation, arts and culture department, hailed it as a huge success.
Anabo secretary Nolita Faye said they ensured boxers received the best treatment, such as meals and top accommodation, to perform at their optimal standard.
“The only hiccup was the issue of medicals, which affected almost all the districts including ours because 15 of our boxers were disqualified as well,” she said.
Due to the absence of BCM, which has been dominating the provincial championships for three successive years, OR Tambo romped to the first spot, followed by Amathole and Nelson Mandela Bay.