Williams denied opportunity to run after card declined

Bahamian distance runner, and multi national record holder, O’Neil Williams, has been prevented from competing internationally again and this time, it was a banking institution that was in the center of a stoppage of his journey and caused immense hardship and heartache in the process.

Williams was fully registered for the Zürich Malaga Marathon this past Sunday in Malaga, Spain. He was on the final leg of his journey, with accommodation and registration fees pre-booked, when he experienced an unfortunate setback. A hold was placed on his Scotia Visa debit card and he was unable to access any funds. As a result, Williams was unable to purchase a ticket for a charter flight to Malaga, and was stuck in the airport in Zürich, Switzerland, for three days.

The Bahamas’ top distance runner said it’s unfortunate that every time he intends to make headlines for The Bahamas in the men’s marathon, and feature the country internationally in athletics, he is met with some setback, usually to the detriment of his own expense. Williams said he lost over $2,000 in this latest fiasco, unable to salvage funds from hotel accommodations, race registration and COVID-19 tests just to name a few.

“It’s completely painstaking. Scotia Bank blocked my card and I don’t know why. Everything I spent on the journey up to that point went down the drain,” he said. “I was in total disbelief. I was in Zürich, and almost couldn’t eat. That’s how bad it was. They really hurt me on this one. It was a challenge and an unpleasant one at that too.”

Williams said he was forced to spend three nights in Zürich Airport, waiting on funds from friends and supporters back in The Bahamas in order to make the long trek back to Iten, Kenya.

“Thanks for private helpers and supporters like Dionisio D’Aguilar, Dawn Knowles and Coach Wilson Bain, I was able to receive some funds,” said Williams. “I’m a national athlete and it hurts to be treated like this. All of the proper procedures and all of the channels were followed and here I was couldn’t even access my personal funds. I was one leg away from my race and everything went down the drain – flights, registration, hotel, COVID test, everything… “

Williams said he received an e-mail from Scotia Bank a day after returning to Iten apologizing for the mishap and assuring him that the matter will be looked into. He said it was irrelevant at that point.

“They sent me something saying they are sorry for the inconvenience but that does nothing for me. What I need to is to get the funds back that I spent in preparation for the race. This is unbelievable. I incurred all kind of expenses at a time when I don’t need to have any. If it wasn’t for people like Dionisio D’Aguilar, Dawn Knowles and Coach Bain, I would have been stuck longer in Switzerland. I was ready to run and ready to run fast and just couldn’t get to the race. It’s one of the most frustrating experiences I ever had,” said Williams.

Williams said the initial issues with his Scotia Visa Debit Card occurred about two years ago when he reported some fraudulent transactions. In the e-mail to him this week, it was stated that “since the the fraudulent transactions previously investigated have not been returned to your account, the matter would have to be escalated to the management team at the branch to make a final determination to return your funds internally.”

Williams said despite the ordeal, and his rising age, he is not hanging up the running shoes just yet. He is looking for a marathon to compete in early next year.

The Bahamian distance runner is 38-years-old, and has been training in Iten, Kenya with some of the best distance runners in the world for the past 10 years. He is still supported by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and its ambassador program, and is grateful for those who have always been there for him.

“RBC is still on board because of this misfortune so they will help in some part of my next race,” said Williams. “I just want to go out there, run a fast time and prove what I am capable of doing. I want to be able to end my running career on a strong note.”

Williams knows the time is winding down on an athletics career that has spanned more than 20 years. He holds the national records in a number of distance events, and over the last five years, has really turned his attention to marathon running. His marathon national record of 2:29:28 was done at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, two years ago.

Williams initially broke Delroy Boothe’s long-standing national record of 2:34.47 at the 35th Ameris Bank Jacksonville Marathon in Jacksonville, Florida, in 2017, running 2:30.35, and was attempting to get below the Olympic qualifying time of 2:11.30, before an Achilles injury and financial restraints thwarted those plans in 2021. He was vying to become the first Bahamian in the history of athletics to qualify for a long distance event at the Olympics.

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/williams-denied-opportunity-to-run-after-card-declined/