Race organisers who disappear with entry fees, winners who are not paid, and now athletes who sneak into races without paying entry fees.
Add to that a cycling organiser who takes cyclists’ entry fees and then has himself liquidated, and it is clear that there are not only diamond peddlers like Louis Liebenberg and Steinhoff’s Markus Joostes in the business world.

Expressing concern

Sport is plagued by underhandedness these days.
The president of Athletics Mpumalanga, Paul Bester, sent out a letter to clubs this week expressing his concern about athletes who show up at road races and then start without paying entry fees or purchasing a temporary licence.

Several incidents reported

“It is with great disappointment that we have to bring this new trend to the attention of clubs. No athlete has the right to participate in a race for free,” said Bester.
According to him, race referees have reported several incidents where athletes have started without paying entry fees, ‘and this is only April!’
“This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated at any Mpumalanga race.”
Action will be taken against the culprits.

Bester said an attempt will be made to identify offenders through photographs. They and athletes caught in the future will be suspended from the sport for 12 months.

• #SportsNightAmplified reported Gerda Steyn opened up about her disappointment with the Soweto Marathon organisers. Six months after the race, she revealed that the winning prize money is still unpaid, raising serious concerns around accountability in the sport.

• Two world-class marathon runners will probably never see the R1m prize money that was promised to the winners of the controversial Mpumalanga Marathon last year.
• Buks Viljoen reported, “After six months of waiting, Jobo Khatoane of the Maxed Elite Club in Lesotho, and Tadu Nare from Ethiopia, the Mpumalanga marathon men’s and women’s race winners, are still out of pocket. The marathon, promoted by organiser Caleb Lekhuleni as the ‘richest’ race on the South African marathon calendar, will not see the light of day again. Not only will Lekhuleni and the Mpumalanga Marathon organisers now face a class action from at least 15 runners who never received their prize money, but Athletics South Africa has also reported to World Athletics about the fiasco.”
• Wynand de Villiers organised bicycle races last year, received the entry fee and then cancelled the races. He was later liquidated. Cyclists who tried to get their money back from the liquidators were ignored.