Namibian athletes who won silverware at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, will only receive their rewards later this year.

This was communicated to Nampa by Mbumba Erastus Haitengela, the Executive Director in the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service.

The games took place in Birmingham, England between 28 July and 08 August 2022.

Alex Miller (cycling), Helalia Johannes (marathon), Ananias Shikongo (para-athletics) and Christine Mboma (track and field) won bronze medals for Namibia at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The sports ministry told this news agency recently it regrets the delay in this regard and would like to assure the affected athletes that they will receive the monies due to them in the 2023/2024 financial year.

“The mid-term budget was only passed in December 2022, which contributed to the delay. However, the Namibia Sports Commission has informed the athletes through their respective federations,” read a response from Haitengela to enquiries from Nampa.

The National Sports Reward Policy which was approved by Cabinet in 2018 provides for a reward to Namibian athletes who participate in local and international sports events, through the Namibia Sports Commission.

The policy covers the Olympics and Paralympics, World Championships, Commonwealth Games, African Games, African Championships and Special Olympics competitions.

For winning at the Commonwealth Games and Africa Games, the gold winner is rewarded with N.dollars 80 000, while silver medallists receive N.dollars 60 000 and bronze medallists, home N.dollars 40 000. Their coaches receive N.dollars 35 000 for gold, N.dollars 25 000 for silver and N.dollars 15 000 for bronze medals.

At the moment the sports ministry owes the coaches and athletes N.dollars 220 000. Of this amount N.dollars 160 000 is owed to the athletes while their coaches Henk Botha (track and field); Belinda Oberholster (para-athletics); Hans du Toit (cycling) and Robert Kaxuxuena (marathon) are owed N.dollars 60 000.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency