/ 5 February 2004

Absa announces more athlete incentives

Athletics South Africa (ASA) on Thursday announced further incentives for athletes in the Absa Series, over and above the R5 000 incentive for every athlete who achieves an IAAF A Standard, which Absa announced on January 27.

‘We have decided to use the money which Absa made available for appearance fees to incentivise the athletes in two ways. Firstly, to pay token appearance fees to medallists at the Sydney Olympics, the Manchester Commonwealth Games, and the Paris World Championships”, said ASA chief executive Banele Sindani.

‘Secondly, to pay four levels (non-cumulative) of performance incentives per event, per meet. This, over and above the event prize money of R1 500, R800 and R400 respectively for numbers one, two and three.”

‘As agreed with the athletes, this way we are in a position to distribute the available funding to benefit all our athletes, while showing some respect for our medallists.”

‘We have no doubt that with Athens looming large on the horizon, our athletes will rise to the occasion to show their appreciation. We take this opportunity to thank our athletes for their cooperation, and to thank Absa for their support and partnership,” concluded Sindani. — Sapa