Themba Gorimbo Up In Arms With Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry Over Zimbabwean Flag
Zimbabwean Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Themba Gorimbo, who recently won a fiery thirty-second victory in the UFC is up in arms against Kirsty Coventry, the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation.
Expressing frustration, Gorimbo voiced his concerns with Coventry and the Sports Ministry for not approving to feature the Zimbabwean flag on his fight kit gear
Themba Gorimbo Says Kirsty Coventry is the Worst in Zimbabwe’s History
Taking to his X account, Themba Gorimbo bemoaned how the sports fraternity in Zimbabwe is dying.
He labeled Kirsty Coventry as the worst Sports Minister the country has ever had and accused her of letting her family and husband run the Sports department.
“I stand by my country and love every single development happening in my country.The roads are beautiful, things are changing but only one thing. Sports is dying because we have the worst sports minister who let her family run the department and her meetings are run by her husband.”
I stand by my country and love every single development happening in my country.The roads are beautiful, things are changing but only one thing.Sports is dying because we have the worst sports minister who let her family run the department and her meetings are run by her husband. pic.twitter.com/hGfyBCD2z3
— Themba T L Gorimbo (@TheAnswerMMA) February 13, 2024
Themba Gorimbo shared a picture of himself holding the Zimbabwean flag. He mentioned that this is the only way he can use the flag during international matches
He revealed that the Zimbabwe Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) board and SRC want him to first bow down to them before they permit him to put the Zimbabwean flag on his fight gear kit.
Only way i can have Zimbabwe flag currently is this way.
Every other athlete in ufc has their country flag on their fight gear accept me because ( I DONT KNOW )
The so called Zim MMA board & SRC want me to bow down to get my flag on my kit. #kirstyworstsportsministerever
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Themba Gorimbo has revealed his struggles with obtaining approval to put the Zimbabwean flag on his kit.
Last year, during his latest UFC bout, Gorimbo raised eye brows after he proudly displayed the South African flag on his kit.
In a series of Instagram stories, Gorimbo unveiled the reason for his unconventional decision, revealing that his request to put the Zimbabwean flag on his kit was turned down by Kirsty Coventry.
“So I have to let all go and move on. I hate to say this but it hurts me that my country’s sports minister wouldn’t approve me to have Zim flag on my kit.I had to represent another country and glad it was South Africa,” Gorimbo wrote on his Instagram stories.
Gorimbo went on to disclose a previous instance where, in a different fight, he had to resort to using the Ghanaian flag on his kit.
“Very sad that out of all countries in ufc I can’t have my own country flag on my kit. Last time i used Ghana and this time SA. All thanks to @officialkirtsycoventry,” Gorimbo
