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??Minister of Sports, Stephen Lashley

The Ministry of Sports is fully supportive of professional boxers in Barbados.

This reassurance has come from Minister of Sports, Stephen Lashley, who has congratulated Barbadian boxers, Antoine Miguel and Shawn Cox, on their successes to date.

Mr. Lashley’s comments came following reports in the February 18 edition of the Saturday Sun, where boxing promoter, Sam Layne, claimed he had approached the Ministry of Sports for assistance so those boxers could participate in the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) qualifying tournament in Guyana on February 25.

According to the Minister, the Ministry’s support was reflected in its facilitation of the recent title defence by Shawn Cox in Guyana, "despite having received the request for assistance a mere 25 minutes prior to the deadline imposed by the Caribbean Boxing Federation.

"On that occasion," he continued, "the need for such applications to be submitted in a timely manner was clearly communicated to Mr. Layne."

However, Mr. Lashley pointed out that the deadline for the registration fees for the WBC tournament expired on February 18, but the boxing promoter submitted an application for assistance to the Ministry on February 20.

"Notwithstanding the Ministry’s very limited finances, the option of forwarding the application to any potential funding agency, with the requisite recommendation, might have been facilitated.?? This would, however, have necessitated the early receipt of an application for assistance, a requirement that must be met by all persons or organisations applying for financial support.

"The Ministry has, in fact, informed representatives of sporting organisations that requests for financial assistance should be communicated early, in order to facilitate budgeting at the time when Estimates are being prepared. This would avoid the type of ad hoc and eleventh hour approach too often adopted by organisations," he argued.

Mr. Lashley said his Ministry would welcome "a professional approach to planning by the stakeholders of sports, and looks forward to a closer collaboration towards the development of our sports persons".

sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb

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