Question NW1572 to the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture
02 December 2019 - NW1572
Van Dyk, Ms V to ask the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture
(1)Whether any sporting codes, teams, federations and/or persons that comply with international criteria have been excluded from qualifying for and/or competing in the 2020 Olympic Games which is to be held in Tokyo, Japan, due to qualifying criteria set by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC); if so, what are the relevant details; (2) what amount in funding has his department made available to support the South African athletes who will compete in the 2020 (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic Games; (3) whether SASCOC amended its qualifying criteria for any sporting code to qualify for the Olympic Games since the 2012 Olympic Games; if so, (a) what are the relevant details and (b) which sporting codes no longer qualify to compete in the Olympic Games due to more stringent criteria set by SASCOC; (4) which federations are affected by the higher qualifying criteria set by SASCOC to compete in the Olympic Games than those set internationally? NW2898E
Reply:
(1) The SASCOC General Assembly, is the only forum authorised to consider the selection criteria and take decision which may have a bearing on the codes to be included or excluded. However, for codes such as Canoeing and Rugby the deadline for submission of their qualifications for acceptance with the Tokyo Games Organising Committee has passed.
(2) The Department has not made available any specific amount in funding to support the South African athletes who will compete in the 2020 (a) Olympic and (b) Paralympic Games. This is due the fact that SASCOC has not finalized and submitted its team sizes.
(3)(a)(b) SASCOC did not amend its selection criteria for any specific code. The criteria have been stringent since the Olympic Games in 2012.
(4) Canoeing and Rugby are the codes affected by the qualifying criteria set by SASCOC to compete in the Olympic Games than those set internationally.