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Midlands Correspondent
THE Zimbabwe Boxing Federation (ZBF) has extended a begging bowl to enable it to send a delegation of 21 boxers and officials to Maputo, Mozambique, for the Zone 4 Championships. The championships had initially been pencilled in for January 5, but were moved back to January 25-30. ZBF secretary-general Goodwill Sibanda said they need about $12,000 to cover transport and accommodation expenses during the team’s stay in Maputo for the tournament.

“We’ve been invited to take part in the Zone 4 Championships in Maputo and we intend to send 15 boxers, who will include 10 males and five females, as well as a coach, an assistant, manager, two referees and the head of delegation,” said Sibanda.

“As a federation, our coffers are dry and we’re therefore appealing to the government and corporate world to assist us to fulfil the Maputo trip. Failure will attract huge penalties from the continental boxing body as we’ve confirmed our participation.”

He said they intended taking the country’s elite pugilists for each division. The championships are traditionally held in April, but were moved forward to make way for the African qualifiers for the AIBA World Championships to be held later this year.

Zimbabwe together with Zambia and South Africa have dominated the Zone 4 championships in recent years.

Last year’s Zone 4 Championships were to have been held in Pretoria, South Africa, but were cancelled following the outbreak of xenophobic attacks across the Limpopo.