Soweto marathon still on, says ASA

Athletics SA has assured runners that the Soweto Marathon will take place on November 2 despite the financial woes the organisation is facing.

This assurance by ASA president James Evans came 24 hours after the Soweto Marathon Trust announced the event had been cancelled due to a lack of sponsorship.

Evans said he was angry that the trust cancelled the iconic marathon without consulting ASA and the Soweto community.

"All the allegations by the trust are not true and it has no authority to cancel the marathon. The trust does not own the marathon; it is [the] property of the people of Soweto," said Evans.

"We will definitely save the marathon, which is a big brand globally. Also, remember that we have a contract with the SABC to stage the Soweto Marathon.

"Our message to the runners is that they must keep on training for the Soweto Marathon this year," said Evans.

On Monday, trust chairman Sello Khunou said it decided to cancel the marathon after consultation with Soweto's athletics clubs. Former ASA chief executive Banele Sindani is a member of the trust.

Said Khunou: "I take this opportunity to offer our sincere apology to all concerned.

"We readily acknowledge the fact that this is a sad day for road running in our country.

"However, we do not believe that it is time for us to sit back and lick our wounds."

Khunou said the trust was disappointed that Evans would not allow it access to the R10-million the SABC gave to ASA for the broadcasting rights to various high-profile road races.

"Evans informed us that he could not let us have the broadcast rights fee for the race because the money was already earmarked for settling ASA's debts," Khunou said.

"We then informed him that in that case we had no alternative but to cancel this year's race. To our surprise, Evans responded by saying he could get a sponsorship for the race, on condition that ASA gets to organise it. The trust rejected Mr Evans's offer.

"We also wish to make it abundantly clear that we will not honour an agreement that we have never seen, in which we only have obligations, but no corresponding rights.

"The race is the biggest marathon in Africa and it remains the only beacon of hope for the development of athletics in Soweto," Khunou said.