JWANENG - Amantle Montsho has expressed shock over the Botswana National Olympics Committee (BNOC) and the Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) officials recent disclaimer concerning who facilitated her trip back to Senegal.

In an interview, the 400m champion said that she was taken aback that the BAA sports development officer, Bobby Gaseitsiwe claimed that he only learnt about her trip on the day she left for Senegal.

Montsho said they have discussed her trip on several occasions with the official that she was not disposed towards travelling to the USA.

The athlete said the associations PRO, Glody Dube was the only official who was on her side throughout the saga.

She said although she had given in to the associations desire, the president, Moses Bantsi called and advised her to go to Senegal as per her desire and even wrote a letter to take to BNOC to enable her to obtain her visa.

The Botswana champion said at BNOC, she was assisted by Andrew Kamanga and said the recent reports came as a surprise to her as the officials were well aware of these developments.

The athlete said although she was initially inclined towards the USA centre, she changed her mind after some people convinced her.

Montsho said her main problem with the Dakar centre was the diet and had asked for a meal allowance in that regard but the officials remained mum about it.

The athlete said she was worried that her relationship with BAA officials was deteriorating and said she did not know where she stood in relation to next years competitions because of the ongoing training controversy.

She said it seemed she was likely to face the same problems that confronted the reputed former national 800m athlete, Glody Dube and California Molefe, among others.

For his part Bantsi admitted that he did originate the letter that the athlete took to BNOC to enable her to obtain a visa.

The president said although they had communicated the benefits of training in the US, Montshos club Sports View owned by Dube wrote to them to insist that she be allowed to return to Senegal.

Bantsi said to his surprise, the secretary general of the Confederation of African Athletics wrote to the association informing them that it was not proper for the association to go against the athletes desire.

He said the issue was highly politicised and he had to save the countrys image by acting to release her as he did.

Dube said it would have been unfair to go against Montshos wishes.

He said the athlete seemed skeptical about an issue related to training in the US and said they had to accept her decision because ruling against her would have amounted to violation of her rights.

Concerning the communication from CAA and IAAF, Dube said he did not have an idea how the two bodies got to know about Montshos debacle.

Dube said they are meeting on Saturday to discuss Montshos issue which seems to involve many players. The PRO alleged that the issue was not handled properly such as having to summon Montshos parents and soul mates to help convince her to debunk the idea of returning to the Dakar centre. BNOC secretary general, Moses Moruisi who did not have an idea of the trip said he later learnt from Kamanga that Montsho brought a letter to their office addressed to the French Embassy and he only directed her to the embassy.

Moruisi said he will have to find out why she went to BNOC carrying a letter addressed to the embassy. He said their interest was for Montsho to go to a centre that will ensure she wins medals rather than just remaining a finalist.

The secretary general said this could only happen if the athlete appreciated their efforts.

He said Montsho should also be concerned about her future after her stint in athletics and take the decisions that would be beneficial to her in the final analysis. BOPA