A South Sudanese sports official has demanded that Olympic athlete Guor Mading hand over money that he received from the International Olympic Committee as a training stipend.
Guor received the money to fund his training to prepare for the 2016 Olympic Games. Previously he qualified for the 2012 Olympic Games but could not participate under a South Sudanese flag because South Sudan did not yet have a national Olympic committee.
He was permitted to compete under the Olympic flag and he ran the marathon race with a time of 2:19:32. For the upcoming 2016 Olympics he hopes to compete under the South Sudanese flag.
But the secretary-general for the South Sudan Athletics Federation (SSAF), Kamal John Akol, has suspended Guor from any activity representing South Sudan unless he hands over money given to him by the International Olympic Committee.
The dispute began soon after Guor was awarded the IOC training stipend, about two weeks ago, while he was training at Iten in Kenya, a location famous for high-altitude training of long-distance runners.
Guor received a phone call and text messages from the South Sudanese official on 4 January. The athlete told Radio Tamazuj that after a brief phone call came a text message saying, “i hope any efforts to get scholarship should be throught our technical commitee in juba. kamal” [sic].
Guor responded with a refusal to give away his scholarship money, citing the rules of the International Olympic Committee. He said in part, “These scholarships have nothing to do with the federation. They are only to support athletes, otherwise IOC would not have given it directly to athletes.”
“I will not direct this funding, if it comes to me, to the South Sudan federation.”
Kamal responded, “Your message is not acceptable… if you can get any scholarship without my acceptance let me know, it seems you are challenging me.”
A third text message from the South Sudanese official reads: “do what you want we do not have time for what you are saying.” Then another said: “tomorrow you will receive letter suspand you activities in South Sudan athletics fedration. Kamal” [sic].
Guor says he did not respond at this point and then received an email the following day, 5 January. A copy of this email provided to Radio Tamazuj reads in full:
“TO : GUOR MADING
Subject : Internal and External Activities Suspension
Hereby i would like to inform you that South Sudan Athletics Federation (SSAF) in its meeting which took place in Juba in 5 January , 2015 , Decided the following :
1. Suspend all your Athletics Activities in and out side South Sudan till further notice .
2. You are directed to report to South Sudan within 72 Hours from now .
3. failure to report to South Sudan will be followed with more restrictions .
Best Regards ,,
Kamal John Akol
Secretary General South Sudan Athletics Federation (SSAF)
Notice : All the concern Bodies are requested to Put this decision on consideration .
Cc. South Sudan Sports Council”
‘I refused to give you the IOC scholarship money’
The same day, 5 January, Guor replied by e-mail asking clarification for the reason for his suspension. “From my understanding, I didn’t committed any crime against South Sudan federation and the people of South Sudanese, beside that I refused to give you the IOC scholarship money which has not yet been finalized,” he wrote.
“I’m not here for the money or for the office position. I am here for the country and its people,” Guor stated, also noting that he would not come to South Sudan within 72 hours unless clarification was given for what he had done wrong.
Just over an hour later Kamal e-mailed back, “I have received your message and i do not have nothing to say, the decision was taken in official meeting… you have committed so many mistakes when you thought that you can challenge the Federation and violate the rules and regulations.”
“Put in your mind that South Sudan became a Country with full powers and bodies, also remember that The Federation is the one who helped you to reach this stage but it seems you quickly forgotten that, any how it is up to you to come to South Sudan to meet the ETHICS COMMITTEE or not and remember the time which given to you is very limited,” stated the official.
Search for explanation
The International Olympic Committee, which has not yet recognized a national Olympic committee in South Sudan, says that it is looking into the incident.
In an email to the Chicago Tribune newspaper on Wednesday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, “We are currently in discussion with the concerned parties in order to understand what exactly the problem is and what actions need to be taken – if any – to reach a solution that works for all.”
Meanwhile, Guor stated, “The IOC is doing serious investigation on this issue. It’s my great hope that this issue will be solved in a short matter, and that the South Sudan federation will continue pursing its IOC membership.”
In a statement on his Facebook page he urged South Sudanese to remain united and he downplayed speculations that his suspension was related to ‘tribalism’.
“Please let us push aside tribalism because I think the person in charge may have not done it in a tribal related.” Instead, according to Guor, the decision to suspend him “might have to do with misusing power and misunderstanding the IOC policies.”