The fate of the national sevens rugby team's participation in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games qualifying tournaments hangs in the balance due to the Zambia Rugby Union (ZRU) facing difficulties in paying the required participation fee to Rugby Africa. The men's team is set to compete in the final qualifying tournament in Harare, Zimbabwe, next weekend, while the women's tournament is scheduled for Tunisia next month. However, there are looming deadlines for payment: the men must pay their participation fee by next Monday, and the women are required to do so a week before their tournament, which runs from 14th-15th October in Tunis. ZRU is currently in need of €6,000 (approximately K132,093) to secure the participation of both teams, with each team mandated to contribute €3,000 to Rugby Africa. Chileshe Bweupe, the President of ZRU, expressed concerns about the risk of not being able to compete in these crucial tournaments after the rugby men and women have performed exceptionally well to reach the final stage of the qualifiers. "We are currently scouting for K900,000 to be able to fulfill both fixtures of critical importance such as camping and the participation fee. If we do not pay the participation fee, we will not be allowed, and it will be such a tragedy for our men and women, who have worked so hard to reach this stage," said ZRU's president. He further added that the ZRU is making efforts to secure the necessary funds to ensure their teams' participation in these significant rugby events.