IN ASABA, NIGERIA
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will take more interest in African athletics competitions with a view to sharing experiences and helping the continent’s organisational ability.
Speaking against the backdrop of pedestrian standards of Asaba’s organisation of the 21st African Athletics Championships, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said the IAAF is committed to improving standards not only in Africa, but also in other regions.
“The fact that I brought a team (from the IAAF) to these championships shows that we want to play a bigger role. And we can also learn from our experiences,” Coe told a press conference at the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Thursday.
He added that partnerships with the continental confederation will yield successful delivery of major competitions.
“Our commitment is for the IAAF to play a more supportive role. We may not have all the answers,” Coe, a legend on the track with an Olympic gold medal to show, said.
WHIRLWIND TOUR
Coe’s statement will be received well by African nations keen on organising world class competitions but without the requisite knowledge of sustaining global standards.
The IAAF is also targeting other continental confederations with Coe on a whirlwind tour of continental competitions to assess the standards as the continents prepare to pick teams that will compete at the IAAF Continental Cup in Ostrava, Czech Republic, in September.
The chairman of the local organising committee of the Asaba championships, Solomon Ogba, and the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Malboum Kalkaba were at pains to explain the hitches that have watered down the continent’s biggest athletics show.
Kalkaba said the spanner was thrown into the works after original hosts Lagos withdrew with Asaba taking up the tab.
“Lagos withdrew late and the host city of Asaba can provide only what’s possible,” Kalkaba retreated on the defensive.
“The CAA don’t have the means to build facilities.”
Ogba later convened a press conference for Nigerian journalists only where he said foreign media was “sabotaging” the championships.
He had earlier termed Nation Sport as “hostile” for seeking to inquire why several aspects of media operations and athletes’ transfers went awry.
As the competition started on Wednesday, journalists endured a media centre without seats, results service and with a stuttering internet connection that saw post-race dispatches miss newspaper and broadcast deadlines.
With more seats thrown into the media centre on Thursday, the organisers battled to patch up teething problems that rose to a deafening crescendo with days of delays in connections at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos from where delegations were connecting to Asaba, just under 500 kilometres away.