African Senior Athletics Championship: Athletes blame poor performance on organisational lapses.

The continental event which is in its 23rd edition, went underway at the Japoma Sports Complex in Douala on Friday June 21.

Logistic difficulties, non-respect of time for events, reprogramming of certain disciplines, technical breakdowns among others were registered during the opening day of the championship.

These challenges forced a number of athletes to start speaking out, with some even contemplating of withdrawing.

Ivorian female sprinter, Marie Joseé Talou who competed in the 100m preliminaries lashed out: “I am injured and disappointed. My team had to take Yango to the stadium because the transportation sucks…I want to cry because what’s more in the taxi, we see another African team escorted by the police. If we want change, we must do better,”. 

Ta Lou’s outburst, added to technical problems observed shortly before the start of the races. The rifle required to sound the starting signal, proved to be faulty. 

“No shots fired. I did not hear anything. I saw everyone leaving and I left too, it made it difficult for me but thankfully I struggle to perform as you all could see,” another Ivorian male sprinter, Arthur Cissé Gue cried out. 

Cameroonian sprinter, Emmanuel Eseme Alobwede who won the country’s first medal(Silver) in the competition on Saturday, also complained about the organisation.

“I will say that it was a very difficult day because with the programming which was not very well organised, I was not qualified for the final. So, I came home, and then they called me that we have to come back. I took Yango very quickly. Arrived at Yassa, there was traffic jam and I had to take the motorbike” Eseme said.

The sprinter was initially ruled out of the final in the 100metres, following a decision by judges which was later rectified.

Eseme competed in the final and was ranked second position with a 10:15 seconds time record, behind Liberian athlete, Joseph Fambullah who won gold, completing the distance in 10:13 seconds. 

CAA Technical Director apologises

Reacting to the organisational lapses, Aziz Daouda who is Technical Director at the Confederation of African Athletics, CAA apologised, adding that they are doing everything possible to fix the shortcomings.

Sports minister firefights 

In the midst of the growing discontentment, the Minister of Sports and Physical Education, Prof Narcisse Mouelle Kombi in his capacity as President of the General Supervisory Commission of the championship convened an evaluation meeting on Saturday.

Speaking during the meeting which grouped key stakeholders, Minister Mouelle Kombi said the organisation of such a prestigious competition is a dynamic process, which calls for permanent evaluation in order to correct the shortcomings noted.

He regretted that much work wasn’t done by the mobilisation subcommittee which justifies the poor turnout at the Japoma Sports Complex during the opening of the championship.

Minister Kombi asked the various heads of the technical commissions to make concrete proposals in order to improve the situation.

He challenged the communication team to give more visibility to the event on social media, this in order to bar the way from some activists whose objective is to tarnish the image of Cameroon and the competition. 

Douala City Council offers free transportation

With the poor attendance observed during the start of the competition, Douala City Mayor, Dr Roger Mbassa Ndine, in a release said the council is putting at the disposal of the public, buses to transport them for free to and from Japoma Sports Complex for the event.

He encouraged city dwellers to turn out massively at the event venue and live memorable moments of the competition. 

Some 1,164 athletes from 50 African countries and others from invited American and European countries, including Canada, Andora, Spain, France, Poland and Turkey are taking part in the championship. 

Nigeria is said to be leading the medals table at the seven-day athletics championship which end on Wednesday June 26.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No: 3147 of Sunday June 23, 2024