Muslim road runners have been called to boycott road races if Athletics South Africa (ASA) and its provincial affiliates do not exempt athletes of the faith from wearing the National Lottery logo on their vest.
The National Lottery Commission began funding athletics this year and, as part of that agreement, all athletes competing in ASA events are required to wear the lottery logo along with their race number.
But promoting gambling is a sin for Muslims, and the new sponsorship deal is putting the community on a collision course with ASA.
The permanent licences for the 2017 athletics season - required for all athletes participating in ASA events - came into effect at the start of last month.
The ASA licence registration states that the licence and race number layouts will allow race numbers to be positioned on top of the ASA licence, without covering the logo of the province and ASA sponsor, which in this case is the National Lottery.
Mohamed Khan, chairman of Crescent Runners’ Club, said they had agreed running with the Lotto logo on the licence was in contravention of their religious beliefs and they had contacted KZN Athletics.
“We have been informed that the removal of, or obscuring, the logo will result in our runners being disqualified. The club’s view is that we will abide by the rules of KZN Athletics and also ASA,” said Khan.
The National Lottery logo would appear where the words ‘ASA sponsor’ are, above the race number, as shown in this illustration.
He said they were hopeful they could reach an agreement where their faith would not be compromised and still be able to abide by the rules of KZN Athletics and ASA.
When contacted on Wednesday, KZN Athletics spokesperson Trevor Neethling said affiliate bodies could not comment because it was an ASA issue.
ASA president Aleck Skhosana said a similar complaint had been raised by Western Province Athletics.
He said he was not aware of the application lodged by the Crescent Runners’ Club to KZN Athletics, and would await details from the provincial body to ASA’s council.
“This is a matter concerning ASA’s constitution, which will be dealt with by our council. At its next sitting, the council will decide whether to allow those who want to run without the logo or not (to participate),” said Skhosana.
He could not confirm when the council’s next sitting would be held.
Moulana Abdullah Khan, of the Jamiatul Ulama KZN (Council of Muslim Theologians), said South Africa’s constitution afforded individuals the right to practise their religious beliefs, and athletics authorities should consider allowing people to do that.
“We don’t support any gambling or alcohol-based organisation, and we also believe that no organisation’s constitution should supersede the country’s constitution which caters for the free practice of religious beliefs. All other constitutions should be subservient to that,” he said.
The priest also felt that
if running clubs’ pleas to have their Muslim runners
participate without wearing
the National Lotteries
Commission branding
were rebuffed, Muslim
runners should not participate in races.
Exemptions have already been made for Proteas’ Muslim cricket players Hashim Amla, Wayne Parnell and Imran
Tahir not to wear the Castle logo on their national team gear.