The Antigua & Barbuda Athletics Association (ABAA) could change its male nominee for the senior division of the Vita Malt National Sports Awards which is now slated for July 23.
This is according to President of the association and former national athlete, Everton “Mano” Cornelius, who said former national sprinter Miguel Francis, was submitted as the organisation’s nominee after much internal debate.
According to Cornelius however, the rescheduling for the awards had given the association time to possibly review that decision.
“And I am so glad they have basically changed the date that it gives me a second bite at the apple to really sit down and discuss this matter in an indebt way and now looking at the whole picture of what has transpired so there is that possibility that it could be reviewed and from my end, I think it should be reviewed. From what I have investigated and looked at from my end of it, I would want to say yes [to the nominee being changed],” he said.
Francis, a Montserratian born athlete, switched his allegiance to Great Britain, saying “bad treatment” and the poor condition of the country’s lone track & field facility, the YASCO Sports Complex, as his main reasons.
The decision, Cornelius said, was not made easily.
“People felt that because he had participated during the season coming up to the Olympics that he would have had the best performance and they would have said that well, even though people were debating what was proper and what was right and wrong and look at the whole ambit of things but when you tie it down to stats then that’s what they basically came up with,” the administrator said.
Francis is currently based in Jamaica where he trains with coach Glenn Mills and the Racers Track Club alongside sprinting sensation Usain Bolt. The athlete won the award last year for his 2015 performances.
Athletics Association To Review Francis’ Nomination
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