Boxers’ Olympic dream in limbo
As a last-minute effort, Malawi Boxing Association (Maba) has turned to Prophet Shepherd Bushiri of the Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) to rescue the association’s Olympic Games dream.
Maba needs about K23 million for its boxers to take part in the last Olympic qualifiers in Asia.
The association missed two qualifying events— one in Cameroon and the other currently underway in Azerbaijan.
The association’s General Secretary, Eliyah Kamphinda, confirmed that they met Bushiri’s representatives and they were hoping to receive funding for the last qualifier to be held in the Eastern European country.
The Baku event is scheduled for June 14 to 18 and the other will be staged in Sofia, Bulgaria during the same period.
“We failed to go to qualifiers in Cameroon because we did not have a team and also we had no funds. What we have done now is to cast our net wider for funding to allow our boys and girls to go to Azerbaijan, for the qualifiers and hope that they qualify,” Kamphinda said.
“Currently, our very last hope is on the Man of God, Shepherd Bushiri. He is surely our last hope and it seems there is light at the end of tunnel. For us to send six boxers, and for camping in either Zambia or South Africa, we have a budget of over K23 million. This is enough for us to go to Baku and camping.”
Kamphinda said Maba organised a successful national tournament in Liwonde from April 16 to 17.
“This was the first of its kind in three years. We wanted to assess the boxers that we have. We are happy with the crop that we identified,” he said.
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