Allowance payment fiasco won’t happen again, Kirsty tells Zim Gems

By Nyashadzashe Ndoro

Minister of Sports Kirsty Coventry has promised the Zimbabwe Gems that late and uncoordinated payment of allowances will not happen again adding government was working around the clock to recognise the team appropriately.

The Gems arrived yesterday from their World Cup campaign in Liverpool where they stunned many to finish eighth.

Speaking to the Gems at a breakfast meeting held in their honour Harare Thursday, Kirsty said government was working on a package to reward the team for their inspired performances in Liverpool.

“We are working on being able to present something to you to show you our appreciation that will be coming in the next few weeks,” Coventry said.

“We will have some other exciting things to make sure that we show you our gratitude and appreciation for all your hard work,” she added.

Coventry, promised as a way forward, that communication will be done in time to make sure support for the Gems is not provided late as was done during the recent trip.

“I would like to take this opportunity to say that moving forward. We saw and I remember when you first qualified, came to your first training last year, we started to have conversations around the support you would need and I think at the end of the day the support eventually came but it came late and I think moving there will be more communication especially through the Sports Recreation Commission (SRC), and through the board and through the national federation, putting in a timely manner the events that they have coming up, the funding that they would need, the support that they would need from us because at the end of the day we want to try and make sure our sports across Zimbabwe are more professional,” she said.

Speaking at the same event, Zimbabwe Netball Association president Leticia Chipandu paid tribute to the Zimbabwe government.

“I sincerely want to thank the government of Zimbabwe for making it possible for the Gems to go to the World Cup by supporting them financially otherwise it wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our government through the SRC,” she said. ZimmorningPost