Why IAAF want to play ‘bigger role’ in Championships

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.

“I came here with a big team from our headquarters in Monaco and I have brought a team to understand the challenges that our continents have, as well as those of each member federation and at the championship level,” Coe told a press conference at the Stephen Keshi Stadium on Thursday.

“The team is here to see how we can be most helpful in future years in the delivery of the sports that creates the relationship and platform between the regional and federal governments, who have been do helpful in allowing us stage these championships.

“The international federation can see what role it can play in helping continents organise championships.”

He added that partnerships with the continental confederations will yield successful delivery of major competitions.

“Our major objective is to ensure we support the development programme in Africa, such that the funding available is spent on the right centres, with the right coaches to create within the educational establishment,” 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.

“We decided two years ago to grant the hosting rights to Lagos, but Lagos couldn’t, so we decided to keep the event in Nigeria and we wanted to honour the athletes of Nigeria, so Asaba came forward with the willingness to host,” Kalkaba explained.

“I came here and visited the stadium, met also the governor of the state and told him that in this condition it is difficult to grant the hosting rights to Asaba without a stadium but he said that the government is committed to building a stadium for the championship and so I trusted his words and a team was sent for the evaluation process and now we have a beautiful stadium."

“This is important for athletics development in this country, so we must appreciate this important legacy. Any of us can face some problems in life, we must also identify what have been done to help the future.”

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 with several athletes arriving to the competition venue just hours to their events after the Lagos transfer delays.

Tanzania withdrew altogether.

“We were also able to appeal to the technical committee to adjust the programme to accommodate every athlete. I am happy that the event is going on smoothly and we hope that we don’t have issues going on,” he mitigated.

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.