Dear Editor,
Forgive me for being in a paradoxical state as I am both pleased and displeased at the same time. I am pleased that Guyana has secured a place at the Pan Am Games through boxing. My displeasure is the route we had to take in order to get there.
Keevin Allicock was denied a chance of fighting in the quarter-final because an official was not acquainted with the rules of boxing. According to what I read, boxers can now be outfitted in their national colours or the traditional red or blue when participating in international competitions.
Guyana filed a protest but that was shot down by the powers that be in Nicaragua where the Pan Am Qualifiers were being held. My understanding is that it took another protest, this time filed by the Guyana Boxing Association president Steve Ninvalle, who just happens to be a Vice President of the Americas before, and Allicock was handed a place at the Pan Am Games.
Good work GBA as it could have ended with the first protest. My memory is filled of similar stories of our sportsmen and women being handed dubious decisions while competing in Latin America. I hope that this is the last time that we will have to endure such atrocities. I hope also that I will soon be informed of the sanctions handed down to the defaulting official at the Qualifiers.
Yours faithfully,
R. Trim
