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Collin Matiza-Sports Editor
LESOTHO is leaving no stone unturned in the process of preparing for successful hosting of the 9th edition of the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Games.
With just over 30 days before the opening ceremony of the Games, work is underway to host over 2 000 athletes and officials, 420 Technical Officials and hordes of guests and dignitaries.
The Games are scheduled to run from December 3 to 12 in Maseru.
Fourteen countries have confirmed participation in what promises to be an explosive sporting extravaganza.
The 10 Region 5 member countries — Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, the host Lesotho, next host Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe — will be joined by four non-Region 5 SADC member countries — Comoros, Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles — all of whom will be fielding football teams.
The Games will feature 11 sporting disciplines of athletics (including athletics for the visually impaired), basketball (including 3×3), boxing, football, gymnastics, judo, netball, swimming, taekwondo, tennis and volleyball.
Some of these sporting disciplines, among them judo and athletics, are set to be qualifiers for the African Junior Championships.
Speaking from Malawi, where the Regional Organising Committee are running an induction training for the 2022 Games, Stanley Mutoya, the Region 5 chief executive ROC Chair, confirmed it was now all systems go in Lesotho.
“As we speak, contractors are on site rehabilitating the road to Rapokolana High Altitude Centre, where swimming is going to be held,’’ he said.
“This is in addition to the works currently underway at the National Tennis Centre, and Setsoto Stadium, where contractors are in the final stages of laying a new athletics tartan track.’’
Work is also underway in rehabilitating the Lesotho College of Education and National University of Lesotho, which will serve as Games Villages, together with the Rapokolana High Altitude Centre where swimming will be based.
The 11 Sports Confederations on the Games programme have finalised identification of all international and local technical officials who will be taking part in the Games.
All the technical officials are in the process of completing appointment contracts to formalise their engagement.
Tennis, netball and taekwondo have already completed the training of their technical officials.
Football, judo, basketball, tennis, swimming and volleyball set to conduct their training in the next coming weeks.
A total of 891 volunteers have been recruited to provide service during the Games.
They include 20 international volunteers and they will be undergoing their generic, and functional training, to equip them with the essential skills to deliver the Games under a Covid-19 pandemic environment.
Focus will largely be on ensuring that all volunteers function and serve as Covid-19 Compliance Officers during their discharge of duty, in order to avoid the spread of the virus, during the Games.
There will be no spectators.
For the first time, the AUSC Region 5 will be broadcasting these Games through digital and live-streaming platforms, after having secured a partnership with a regional production company, Vision View Television.
The Games will be broadcast on the digital Vision View TV as well as through live-streaming via Region 5, Vision View and COSAFA TV.
Mutoya said member countries’ national broadcasters are at liberty to engage with Region 5 for modalities of buying rights to cover the Games.
Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, Christine Mbowane, of Namibia, was part of these Games during the Botswana 2018 Games.
This is in addition to the likes of Wayde van Niekerk, who was in Eswatini in 2010, Nigel Amos and Naomi Ruele, both of Botswana, who were in Lusaka, Zambia, in 2012.
“Region 5 is therefore urging all member countries to ensure that their athletes and officials are fully vaccinated by the time they travel to Maseru in December,’’ Mutoya said.
Competition is starting with football on November 30 with the rest of the events commencing around December 4 and spreading all the way to December 11.
Online Reporter