Boks, Proteas can fly the SA flag

The Springboks and Proteas will be entitled to fly the South African flag at the world cups taking place in France and India, according to Minister of Sports, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa.

The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport (Saids) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) against the threat of sanctions following the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (Wada) claims that South Africa had not updated its anti-doping legislation on Tuesday, according to Kodwa, who made the announcement during a press conference.

I believe the grounds for appeal are strong and that the sanctions are not appropriate.  The sanction as it pertains to the flying of the national flag has created unnecessary hysteria and punished athletes and players unfairly who are competing for the pride of South Africa,” he added.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, the minister said his department had since pulled out all stops to resolve the non-compliance by getting the SAIDS Amendment Bill adopted expeditiously.

“I presented the bill to the cabinet. Last week, the bill was approved by the cabinet and will now be tabled in Parliament.  I am confident that WADA will recognise these efforts as a commitment to pass the amended legislation and suspend the non-compliance declaration.”

The national flag’s flying at events like the Cricket and Rugby World Cups won’t be impacted until the CAS rules on this challenge, according to Kodwa, who also confirmed that the filing of the appeal staves off the consequences of the non-compliance about the flying of the national flag at regional, continental, and World Championships as well as events organised by major event organisations.

At the press conference, Saids CEO Khalid Galant stated that Wada needs to file the appeal to the court of arbitration because “the appeal cannot be dismissed. They might accept the letter of demand, so it might not even come to that,” he said.