African Journalists deserve respect at Beijing games

The excellent performance from Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes in specific and all African representatives in general at the on going Beijing Olympics has been diluted by the tales of struggles African journalists have gone through to be accredited to the scenes of the games.

To say the least almost all African journalist missed the opening ceremony presided over by United States President George Bush. They were assembled at one place and escorted to various scenes of tourism as the ceremony was underway.

More or less being turned into tourists, the journalists have no option but to live with having to struggle to witness their own athletes perform wonders on the world tage. Some were lucky to watch the events on big screens outside the scenes according to Malawian journalists who accompanied the teams of athletes.

The Olympics so far have provided the biggest market for African sportsmen, with reports consistently suggesting that many Africans are clinching contract deals, getting special scholarships just to mention a few of the opportunities.

And with only a week to close, the African achievements are conspicuous. More with Nigeria's Super Eagles whipping Belgium to book a place in the finals where they are meeting fellow world heavy weights Argentina. Argentine reached finals after beating former worlds cup champions Brazil 3-0.

This is news for African record considering that Nigeria soccer team would be repeating their record of the past editions when they lifted gold medals at the Olympics some time back.

But a report in Malawi media filed by a journalist right there in Beijing chronicled how African journalists are struggling with accreditation despite being officially invited to cover their teams and the games.

Accreditation is a big eyesore here for African journalists, they have missed a number of events because they say African journalists were not accredited in some areas, I think this is an area which needs to improve in the next edition of the games in future, said Gomezgani Zakazaka a journalist working for a Malawian daily publication called The Nation in Blantyre, Malawi's commercial hub.

Africa as a block has done well in a number of competitions including athletics (women and men), Long Jump, Soccer and even swimming. However it is disturbing to note that Africa is not represented in diving, high jump, gymnastics. These are kind of games Africa can shine because they don't have too many limitations in terms of their resources.