FORMER Olympic committee chief Dan Moyo has urged Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula to intervene in athletics' boardroom shenanigans.

Moyo described the infighting at Athletics South Africa as an embarrassment to the country, saying athletes were the ones who were suffering.

"The world championship in Russia, which ended on Sunday, exposed us badly after Team SA came back home with only one medal," said a concerned Moyo yesterday.

"It is clear there is an urgent need for Mbalula to intervene because I'm worried that we may not even have athletes qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"We cannot allow these shenanigans to go on because athletics has been one of the flagships of SA sport since our return to the international arena.

"The future does not look bright for athletics unless there is a serious and urgent intervention by our government. Athletics does not belong to any one individual.

"Right now the Soweto marathon is likely to be cancelled because of lack of sponsorship. We are talking here about an event with the potential of competing with the best in the world."

Turning to boxing, Moyo said: "Aiba [the International Boxing Association] has now banned South Africa from competing at all official competitions. It is clear we are having a serious problems in some sporting codes.

"There is a tendency by certain administrators to write letters to their sports' world-governing bodies when things don't go their way here at home. That behaviour must stop."

Moyo served as general secretary of the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee in 1990.

Mbalula's spokesperson Paena Galane said: "Minister Mbalula is on top of the situation with regard to athletics and boxing. We are still addressing certain issues internally and we will soon make an announcement."