The Serbian Embassy in Pretoria rejected the visa applications as they were submitted late by the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA).
Team manager, Isaac Mbise told MmegiSport that they were informed by BAA that visa applications had been rejected after late submission. “We received that information a week before we could travel. It was a shock to us because all along we thought we had done everything on time,” said the disappointed Mbise.
He said the BAA told them that they had requested a waiver from the World Athletics, which was also rejected because there were no valid reasons for the late submissions. Mbise said they submitted the list of the cross country team to the BAA after the FNB Botswana International Cross Country (BICC), which was held in January.
“The team was selected after the BICC. However, the technical team felt that times registered by some of the athletes we had selected were slow. We then agreed that we should send four seniors and four juniors for exposure. After a few weeks, we were informed by BAA that there were no funds,” he said. Mbise said it was then discovered that Kagiso Kebatshwaretse’s passport was due to expire in May and he was replaced by Olefile Keoagile. He said it has been a long time since Botswana competed at World Athletics Cross Country championships. “Long-distance runners have given up; it is painful to them because they are denied the right to represent their country on the international stage. Maybe next time as managers we should be allowed to do things for ourselves instead of depending on the BAA secretariat,” Mbise said.
The team's coach, William Mokwena, said it appears the BAA did not have interest in sending the team to Serbia. He said the team's preparations started well before those of the African Games team began. “Kenya completed their preparations after us, in February. But they sent a team, which did very well. Our long-distance runners feel sidelined,” Mokwena said. One of the athletes, Sesebo Matlapeng, who qualified for the championships by winning the men’s 10km race with a time of 29:46, said he was only told to submit a passport and that was the end. “I do not know why we did not travel to the competition.
The BAA simply called me to drop my passport at their office and promised to keep in touch. When I checked them, they told me that they were still busy with the process. As weeks went by, I accessed the World Athletics Cross Country document which indicated that entries had long been made,” he said. Matlapeng said that is when he realised that it was late. He said with a day left before travel, no information was shared with him and that is when he realised that the trip was no longer possible. “It is painful but this is not the first time this has happened to me. Of course, I feel the pain but then I just give up.
I missed out on another edition that was held in 2020 and I also missed out on the World Half Marathon,” Matlapeng said. Contacted for comment, BAA vice president, Oabona Theetso said anything regarding the team is not for public consumption. “Not yet for public consumption,” he briefly responded. When asked if long distance runners are justified to feel sidelined, Theetso maintained his answer that the matter was not yet for the public. The Botswana team that was due to travel to Serbia comprised Matlapeng, Othusitse Gabolelwe, Keoagile and Wilson Othusitse. Meanwhile, Kenya finished first at the competition after amassing six gold medals and three bronze medals followed by Ethiopia with two gold medals and two bronze medals with Uganda coming third with one gold medal and three bronze medals.
