Wilhelm de Swardt

Pretoria – It’s no coincidence that the information regarding the so-called “illegal” injection that Geraldine Pillay supposedly got two years ago, surfaced in the media three days before the election of new Athletics South Africa (ASA) board.

A number of athletes and coaches expressed their surprise on Thursday when a report surfaced that Pillay, a former medal winner at the Commonwealth Games, was injected with Actovegin by Dr. Maaki Ramagole in 2008.

The information about the injection is contained in the forensic report that Deloitte and Touche have compiled on ASA’s financial affairs at the request of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).

Pillay is one of the representatives for the position of athletes’ representative on the new ASA board.

It is no secret that she and the decision-makers at ASA’s offices don’t see eye to eye on the manner in which the sport is currently being run.

She was, for example, very critical of ASA’s squad selections for the World Junior Championships in Canada and the manner in which prize money was awarded to athletes following the Yellow Pages Series.

After a falling out with Richard Stander, administrative head of ASA, she resigned as interim board member and from the team management of the South African junior team.

Stander has been saying since June that a South African athletics is in for a “doping shock”.

Ironically, it appears as if the entire incident has been taken out of context.

Chris Hattingh of the South African Institute For Drug-Free Sport said that Actovegin is not a banned substance.