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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE athletes will miss out on the US$500 000 bailout fund after World Athletics stated that qualification for the postponed 2020 Olympic Games forms part of the criteria for eligibility.

Although the world sporting extravaganza was pushed back to next year, it will not be of any use to Zimbabwe athletes, as the deadline for applications is May 31 and there are no competitions for athletes to try and qualify for the Olympics because of the Covid-19 pandemic that has forced suspension of all global sporting activities.

“All athletes must meet the following eligibility criteria, must be qualified (by meeting the entry standard) for selection for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, must have never had an anti-doping rule violation and must be able to demonstrate a justifiable welfare need through significant loss of income in 2020 compared to 2019,” World Athletics wrote on its website.

Due to postponement of sporting competitions, no Zimbabwe athlete had met the qualifying standard, according to Zimbabwe’s Chef de Mission Thabani Gonye.

Two weeks ago, World Athletics and the International Athletics Foundation (IAF) announced that a welfare fund had been created to support professional athletes that have lost a substantial part of their income due to the suspension of international competitions this year.

A working group was formed to oversee distribution of the funds and it has now finalised the eligibility criteria and application process.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who chairs the working group, said it had been a challenging and complicated task to define the eligibility criteria to ensure that grants from the fund were disbursed to the athletes most in need.

“The IAF has allocated a substantial sum to the fund, and we hope to raise more through private donations from friends of our sport, but it has become apparent that the resources must be focused on athletes who are likely to be competing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year and are now struggling to pay for basic necessities due to loss of income during the pandemic,” Coe said.

“We know this is a stressful situation for many athletes and we are trying to provide meaningful assistance to as many as possible as quickly as possible so they can continue to train for the competition season we have now scheduled for August to October, and for next year’s Olympics.”

World 1 500m record-holder and Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj, who initiated the project and sits on the working group, said the loss of competition had had a huge impact on professional athletes because many relied on prize money to support themselves and their families.

The level of grant is dependent on the number of approved applications and is up to a maximum of US$4 000.

It is anticipated that the grants will be distributed directly to athletes from next month.

Only athletes who have been impacted financially to the extent that they are unable to maintain their basic standard of living should apply.

To help ensure the fund goes to those most in need, World Athletics said the following athletes will not be eligible to apply:

Those ranked in the Top 6 in their event in the World Athletics World Rankings

Those who have finished in the Top 6 positions of any Gold Label Road Race in 2019

Those who have earned more than US$6000 in prize money from the Diamond League in 2019

Athletes, who throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, continue to receive an annual grant from their government, National Olympic Committee, member federation or sponsors are not expected to apply unless they can demonstrate a justifiable welfare need.