A New Sports App to Sponsor Belizean Athletes

On many occasions when athletes travel abroad to represent Belize at sporting events, the Ministry of Sports is heavily criticized for not providing adequate funding for the teams to be better prepared. The Minister of Sports has explained that there is simply not a big enough budget to cover all the teams that need sponsorship. So, he came up with an idea to introduce a Support Sports app that gives everyone at home and abroad a chance to contribute towards that effort for Belize’s athletes. News Five’s Marion Ali was at the National Sports Council’s Conference room when the app was introduced today. Here’s that report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

It’s the latest app in the country, designed to allow Belizeans to make monetary contributions to the National Sports Council so that it can better prepare athletes representing Belize abroad.

 

Iris Centeno, Sports Director, National Sports Council

“We as a social organization will be the beneficiaries. Let me correct that.  The athletes will be the beneficiaries of this creative app.”

 

National Sports Director, Iris Centeno explained that the app allows anyone to make a contribution to the success of Belizean athletes.

 

Iris Centeno

“The app basically is going to be the engine that supports the dreams of the Belizean athletes, our future Hall of Famers, and the people that take our national pride to international contests worldwide. This provides the opportunity for every Belizean from every walk of life. regardless of their financial standing to donate to a worthy cause. It is often said that half of Belize lives in other countries. This app ensures that the opportunity for Belizeans with a social conscience also engage in giving back to their country of birth.”

 

 

The app allows for transparency when one donates money from anywhere and at any time. It allows for direct deposits from as little as a dollar, using debit cards, to the bank account of the National Sports Council. Aziel Ku is the app creator.

 

Aziel Ku, Sports App Creator

“What you would have to do is just scan this QR Code or the link that you might receive and you will have access to the app. You will not need to go to make an extra step to download and then register, but anyone can just scan that code or that link and they will instantly get access to the app, whether that be on a website, on their laptop, on their phone, on their iPhone, whichever device they have or tablet. Once you open the app you will see at the bottom there is a “donate now” button and you’re able to click that and it’ll open and allow you to select whether it be a credit card for international donors or you can use your local debit card. You can also use the direct deposit, meaning you can make the deposit via transfer from your personal bank account and then just upload the payment towards their platform and they can register that payment as well. If you choose a provider as Belize Bank, it’ll ask you for your card number and the C.C.D., so that our software will make the deduction on behalf of you directly from your account and then deposit it Into the National Sports Council’s bank account.”

 

Minister Rodwell Ferguson assures that a board will decide how your money will be best put to use.

 

Rodwell Ferguson, Minister of Sports

“There’s a board of I think 12 or 13 members, so amongst themselves they will decide how the money has been spent based on requests. For example, we have about 40 to 41 federations and I’m telling everybody know that you can’t make a request directly to the National Sports Council unless you come through your own federations. So what this will do is encourage every discipline or every football team or basketball team to register with their federation to make sure they can benefit from this procedure. We at the National Sports Council are going to guarantee you that your money is going to be spent properly. I guess over the years, Belize has become disillusioned with the National Sports Council because every time you hear different misapplication and so forth. I’m hopeful that this will work and everything will run properly.”

 

The app can be used with all local bank accounts. Marion Ali for News Five.