ASA too scared to fire Chuene
2009-09-28 17:45
Johannesburg - Fear was the driving force behind Leonard Chuene retaining his seat at the head of the Athletics South Africa (ASA) board, a senior ASA official said on Monday.
An ASA special general meeting was held in Kempton Park last week to discuss the federation's handling of the Caster Semenya gender fiasco after Chuene and other senior members of the national body admitted to lying about tests conducted on the teenage athlete in Pretoria last month.
But the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his provincial federation had been too scared to discuss Chuene's lies - a subject that was apparently never even raised in the meeting.
"The only thing that was discussed was what the rest of us would have done if we had been in Chuene's shoes," said the official. "His lies were never discussed."
Much of the meeting was expected to revolve around whether or not Chuene remained fit to lead the federation, but his position as ASA president never went to vote because nobody in the meeting raised the motion.
Another ASA senior official told Sapa "those meetings are like a braai among friends" and those outside Chuene's circle were too scared to challenge him.
"Many of the people in the meeting were put there by Chuene himself and he tells them, 'if I'm gone, you're gone'," said the official.
"I can tell you that not all the federations are happy with Chuene. I know that Eastern Province, Western Province and Boland are not happy."
Boland Athletics released a statement on Monday confirming they intended to remain neutral on the ASA board's handling of the Semenya debacle until "the involvement of all role players has been revealed and scrutinised."
The statement added that the provincial body expected ASA to produce a report on "the other role players in the Caster Semenya saga", apart from Chuene.
But a senior official remained confident that Chuene would soon be replaced at the head of the board, despite his political influence and tendency to rule with an iron fist.
"I don't think he will stay there for long," the official said. "He's got to go."
- SAPA