Athletics South Africa is facing one of its most turbulent chapters yet after its former president was suspended over financial misconduct. World Athletics had then stepped in to restore order, but now, with potential sanctions looming, sprint star Akani Simbine and the men’s relay team, who won Olympic silver in Paris 2024, are watching their Los Angeles 2028 hopes slip into jeopardy.

As per SABC Sport, World Athletics has now warned the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee. This comes after Athletics South Africa’s (ASA) recent appearance before a Parliament committee, where, reportedly, a recommendation was made to dissolve ASA’s board over financial concerns and governance.

This did not sit well with World Athletics. Why? Because it’s World Athletics’ rule that government interference in national member federations is strictly prohibited. Thus, if an outside body is interfering in the ASA, it’s a violation and can lead to WA cancelling ASA’s membership.

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Thus, WA’s fresh warning letter reportedly reveals that WA is concerned and has stated that any further government interference in the federation could lead to serious repercussions for South Africa.

The repurcussions could be as big as Athletics South Africa’s suspension or removal, which will effectively prevent South African athletes from competing on the global stage. It would mean any South African athlete who qualified for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the 2028 LA Olympics could be barred from participating.

Well, this won’t be the first time. Athletics Kenya and All-Russia Athletic Federation have faced similar repurcussions by WA before.

But for South Africa, it all began when authorities suspended President James Moloi for financial mismanagement amid a probe into his misuse of the ASA credit card. Former ASA finance manager Terrence Magogodela faced similar charges, prompting athletes and local clubs to demand accountability.

That forced the World Athletics’ hand, and they took action, but the ASA submitted a roadmap for improvement and changes, which the world governing body backed and granted the federation time to implement reforms. It led to the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture to intervene, and their recommendation to the Minister of Sport was to dissolve the ASA’s board.

“The Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture unanimously resolved to recommend to the Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture that the Athletics South Africa (ASA) board of directors be dissolved due to its inability to undertake its fiduciary duties and for its failure to protect and preserve the interests of athletes,” reads the statement on Parliament.gov.za.

Now, however, with the government potentially involved, World Athletics has changed its stance and has shown in the past that it will take action.  

However, questions by the Portfolio Committee on Sports, Arts and Culture continue as chairperson Joe McGluwa still believes the ASA’s board should step down.

Joe McGluwa believes ASA can’t run an effective program right now

This is because McGluwa and the rest of the Portfolio Committee believe that the ASA is on the precipice of collapsing amid serious internal issues. Their leadership problems aside, the committee believes that the ASA currently has no control over its finances and is leaking money, cannot prioritize critical problems, and is thus struggling to help South African athletes at the moment.

It has led to local clubs and provincial bodies becoming much more vocal in their calls for a top-down change, which eventually led to the World Athletics intervention.

“There is no way the entity could run an effective athletics programme with the level of brokenness that is manifest in this board,” the statement from Joe McGluwa read as per Sowetan.co.za.

“We are going to be wondering when we fail to bring home medals at international events, when we are managing chaos instead of running successful athletics programmes. The committee is shocked that the ministry would leave the federation on autopilot for as long as it has.

“We have called them four times to parliament, raising the same issues they were unable to account on today. When affiliates and provinces are unable to honour winning prizes for athletes, not once, not twice, that is a serious cause for concern.”

For now, that uncertainty leaves athletes like Akani Simbine caught in the middle of a situation far beyond the track, with their immediate futures tied to decisions made in boardrooms. And unless they find a resolution soon, South Africa’s biggest stars could end up paying the price for a crisis they had no part in creating.