A Malawian female athlete, Nalicy Chirwa has failed to get her gold prize money in the Deloitte Challenge Marathon in South Africa after failing to show her clearance letter from the Athletics Association of Malawi (AAM) as per demanded by the marathon organizers.

Chirwa was supposed to receive R15, 000, about K770, 000, after emerging the overall winner in a 42.2 km distance.

AAM General Secretary, Frank Chitembeya, has confirmed the development saying his association got the wind of the issue but their hands are tied because the association was not aware of the athlete’s participation in the competition and the athlete is in South Africa on personal business.

Chitembeya said: “We have just been informed about the issue  but as an association we were not informed about her trip to Durban and with this development we can’t do anything unless we get a formal communication from the South African club which she represented.”

Chitembeya, who confirmed that the athlete is a member of AAM, has warned all the local athletes who travel outside the country to follow proper channels such as communicating with the local association, before they take part in any competition to avoid such scenarios.

“I advise all the athletes who are outside the country to ensure that there is a formal linkage between their clubs they are engaged to with the local federation so that AAM can process all the needed documents so that the athletes can work as professionals,” said Chitembeya.

He further emphasized that athletics rules all over the world are very strict to the extent that no one is allowed to take part in any competition without a clearance from their nation’s federation.

Currently, Chirwa, together with her colleagues in South Africa have pleaded with the AAM to process the clearance so that she can claim her prize money.