Francique denies receiving government assistance

COLLEGE STATION, Texas, Jan 16 (CMC) – Grenada's history-making World Indoor 400-metre champion Alleyne Francique has denied receiving any promised assistance from the Grenada government. Finance Minister Anthony Boatswain said the government has provided assistance to Francique, although no decision has been made on how to honour him. "Francique received certain rewards from government, finances and otherwise", Boatswain said in a radio interview in St. George's. In 2004, Francique became the first Grenadian athlete to win a global title in track and field when he captured the World Indoor 400-metre gold medal in Budapest, Hungary. He retained the title last year March in Russia and a few weeks later, captured silver at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia. "In terms of honouring him – he is still a young man and I believe his time will come. It's not a posthumous situation we're dealing with," Boatswain said. "He is still in his prime and whatever honour due to him will come, in the fullness of time". However, Francique has refuted the minister's statement, saying that he is yet to receive any of the promises made to him. "I've heard a lot of people saying that I received land and money as promised in the lead-up to the Olympic Games (Athens) but that's just talk," Francique said from his training base in College Station. "I was given a diplomatic passport, and that's all. I have won a medal in all major meets except the Olympics and that's all I was given," said Francique, who finished fourth at the Athens Olympics. Francique, the world’s fourth-ranked 400-metre athlete, said his major concern at this time is the excitement over World Cup cricket at the expense of track and field, which has produced some world ranked athletes for the country. "What is being done about the track and field stadium damaged by (Hurricane) Ivan three years ago?" he queried. Francique, who plans to skip the indoor season, is preparing for the Pan American Games in Brazil this summer and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships in Athletics in Osaka, Japan in August. He was a bronze medallist at the 2003 Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic and has been named the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) world male athlete of the year for 2006.