ASK YOURSELF WHY
C o l u m n
Temporary Registration
In the late 1980s , temporary licenses were introduced in SA for two primary purposes : ( a ) to allow a club member who was travelling and without a provincial number , to be able to enter a race , and ( b ) as a means for a non-club member to enter a race . That was it , because in those isolation years , we had no foreign athletes running in SA , and no national athletes . Also , if memory serves , all national championships were standalone events , and closed to anyone not selected and entered by their provinces , so there was no need for a provincial number at these events .
This raises two questions : Why can ’ t we have a ruling that all SA Championship races provide two race numbers ( front and back ), which means no ASA numbers would be required ? This would create consistency , because at present , the SA 21km Championships provide two numbers , but the 10km Championships do not . We confuse the situation with inconsistency .
Everybody watching saw Leeto apparently win the national title
Leeto was selected to represent Athletics Central North West ( ACNW ), his domicile province , for these SA 10km Championships . It was reported that on Friday 8 March , he went to his provincial structure to get a 2024 licence number , but for some reason this was not forthcoming – why is still not known at the time of writing . The province had selected the athlete , which implies that they knew ( or should have confirmed ) that the athlete was a licenced member of a club in their region . If he wasn ’ t a member of a club , or properly licenced , then he wasn ’ t eligible for selection in the first place .
While the actual reason for his failure to obtain a permanent licence may become clear after this article in published , he left for Johannesburg in the knowledge that he did not have a 2024 license . The province was apparently also aware of this , and its team management was then obliged to withdraw him from their team at Saturday ’ s pre-race technical meeting , but this also failed to happen .
Getting Technical
Social media posts highlight that it was well known that athletes needed to wear permanent licences in this event , and a senior executive from one of the other provinces confirmed that the team manual came out before the race with instructions that permanent licences needed to be worn . The team manual provides guidance on the overview of the event , but in SA , these manuals tend to be distributed close to race day , and it is often only the provincial office and team managers that get to see it . How many provinces make the team manual available to each team member ? This incident will surely have highlighted how important that is .
The provincial executive I spoke to also noted that the licence number matter was highlighted at the Technical Meeting the day before the race . These technical meetings at ASA Championships are restricted – rightly or wrongly – to the management of each province . The athletes are reliant on managers to efficiently relay anything discussed or changed at the meeting , and this may not be the most efficient means of communication . It is for this reason that at World Athletics Label events , the Technical Meeting is for every invited athlete , so they get the information first-hand .
The second point is that if we maintain the one-number situation , and make it that ASA numbers must be worn , then why don ’ t we accept a temporary license front and back ( with branding correctly shown , as per rules ) for any provincial athlete who has forgotten their permanent licence at home ? This should not be a problem , providing provinces adhere to the rules that only licenced athletes who are members of a club in their province , can be selected in the first place .
Post-race Impacts
Let ’ s be clear , it is the athlete ’ s responsibility to ensure that he or she has fulfilled all the administrative requirements of entering and lining up for a race . That said , this disqualification had nothing to do with performance , but solely related to an administrative rule , which negatively impacted on an otherwise legal and proven performance . If we are serious that we are athlete-focussed , then there is something inherently incorrect in allowing this to happen . Sadly , this is not the first time that podium finishers have been disqualified at a prestige event in SA , and if we accept at face value that the issue was known about at least 36 hours prior to the race , why did our sport allow this to unravel on race day ?
More importantly , how do we prevent it from recurring in future ? This sort of thing has considerable negative impact on every aspect of the sport , from the athletes to the technical officials ( who are seen as the ‘ bad ’ guys , despite working to the rules ), commentators , spectators and TV viewers , and the sponsors . If what you see is not what you get in the coverage of the sport , then people will start walking away . This is why you will never see a winner or top performer disqualified at international level for an administrative matter , only for what we refer to as performance-critical rules ( like a false start ), or doping control issues . Our greatest concern must surely be on ensuring that a legal performance is validated , irrespective of any administrative errors prior to the race or on competition day .
This is not to say that we become lax on administrative rules , but rather that breeches of administrative rules that are not resolved prior to the gun , are then ‘ postponed ’ to after the competition , when they can be addressed with appropriate penalties , if needed . In other words , let ’ s not jeopardise the ’ shopfront ’ of our sport with administrative disqualifications , when it ’ s relatively easy to handle the matter later .
In this case , Leeto should have received confirmation from the team manager that SA numbers were a prerequisite , otherwise he would not be able to represent the province , in which case he should not be running in provincial colours . At this stage , an alternative vest should have been found for him to race in .
Images : SMacPix
I have confirmed that Leeto was warned by the Technical Officials in the pre-race Call Room that he was not compliant for the SA Championships , and that the use of a temporary license would make him eligible only for the open race . That said , the fact that he wore provincial colours could have resulted in him being disqualified from the open race , too . While it could be asked why the Technical Officials allowed him to run in provincial clothing with a temp licence , it would be unreasonable to expect them to foresee all the possible outcomes of the rules in that rushed , pressurised situation , and there is always the allowance for an athlete to run under protest , so in my opinion , the Technical Officials performed well on the day .
Although it seems there were rumblings about Leeto ’ s licence reaching various people during the race , it ’ s unfortunate that the TV commentary team and event announcer did not appear to be informed . That could have assisted in preventing or reducing both confusion and embarrassment .
Leeto ’ s elation was soon replaced by disappointment
About the Author
Norrie represented Scotland and Great Britain in numerous ultra-distance events , then represented South Africa in triathlon . He is a World Athleticsaccredited coach and course measurer , and travels all over the world to work on events , including the Olympics . He has been appointed by World Athletics as Technical Delegate to a number of the world ’ s leading Label events in Africa , Asia and the Middle East . He has authored two books on running , and counts 20 Comrades medals amongst his more than 150 ultra-marathon medals , as well as multiple wins at distances from 100km to 1000km . You can read more from him at www . coachnorrie . co . za .
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