Staff Reporter
COACH Henk Botha has confirmed that one of his athletes, Beatrice Masilingi, will no longer be under his wing as she stated that she would be moving to a new coach in South Africa, a move Botha states will worsen the athlete’s recovery process.
The coach however indicated that Namibia’s world record breaking sprinter and Olympic medalist Christine Mboma will remain under his guidance for coaching.
This is after Botha accused Bradley Agnew, the agent who is responsible for the two girls, of trying to misuse their funds and lure them into abandoning Botha and staying in Pretoria, South Africa.
“I cannot give all the information on the agent because investigations are pending. Beatrice has indicated that she wishes to leave but we have not spoken yet. We need to talk about things before decisions can be made. We have an agreement that she will come to Namibia next week,” Botha stated.
The coach has however expressed concerns about the direction Masilingi will take with her career, adding that their current agent Agnew and the agency under which they are, Newton Agency, are exploiting their funds.
“I don’t think it’s healthy that she stays with the agency’s coach as the agency is misusing their funds. I don’t have a problem if she wishes to move to another coach, we can sit down and try and sort it out ourselves and see if we might get somebody for her in her own time. But I just don’t think the coach that the agency provided will be healthy for her as it will make her situation worse,” Botha stated.
In a statement yesterday, Botha shared the news of the athlete’s departure.
“At the end of last season, I realized that certain things were not in line with the two athletes’ agent. I started putting pressure on him regarding certain issues in respect of my athletes’ money. Bradley Agnew, the agent, has tried to get rid of me because I was in his way to misuse the athletes. After both girls were injured he said to me that he thinks it would be better if they did rehabilitation in Pretoria,” Botha related.
He further stated that little did he know that the agent had false intentions for keeping the girls in Pretoria.
“I know she needs support and guidance and unfortunately the agent is exploiting her current dilemma. Certain questionable conduct by the agent is in the process of being reported to World Athletics and the Namibian Olympic Committee. I will always be there for her, she is my daughter and that will never change,” Botha noted.
Botha added that he is currently in Mauritius with the Namibian athletic team for the African Championship and stated that he would meet up with Masilingi next week upon his return. He could however not give reasons for the athlete’s departure and stated that Masilingi notified him that she has difficulties training with Mboma.
“Christine had never indicated that she wanted to join a different coach. She is not happy about the press release and will decide what her next steps will be. She returned to Namibia and we will find a new medical team that can help her to finalise the rehabilitation of her injury. The false statements by the agent reveals his lack of integrity and dishonesty,” concluded Botha.
