IAAF reportedly not happy with Kenya’s level of preparedness for next year’s junior event
By K24 Editorial, July 25, 2019Amos Abuga @PeopleSports11
World athletics governing body IAAF is reportedly not happy with the slow progress of preparations for the World Under-20 Athletics Championships to be held in Nairobi in July next year.
In January, a high-powered IAAF delegation, led by executive director of communication Jackie-Brock Doyle, were in Kenya for a first inspection tour with the country promising to be ready by November.
However, with the officials set to make a second inspection tour of the facilities in November, little has been done.
Three months to the deadline of laying the synthetic track at Kenyatta University, which will be the Athletes Village, nothing much has been done so is a number of things at the Kasarani Stadium, the event’s venue, to the disgust of IAAF.
However, Athletics Kenya (AK) president Jackson Tuwei, who is also the World U20 2020 Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman, is putting on a brave face, promising to have everything in place by the time ‘Big Brother’ swings into town.
“A lot is happening behind the scene,” Tuwei told People Sport.
“The LOC has had over eight forward thinking meeting since it was gazetted. And with that, we are entering three crucial months of getting everything in order and working,” he added.
With claims that the government has not been supportive wholeheartedly, Tuwei said the LOC will be presenting a budget to the Sports Ministry next week for approval.
“You know matters dealing with budgets are strenuous and procedural. That may be the reason it has taken a while to sort out the issue of finances,” he said.
Despite the hiccups, Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed has also remained adamant that the government will offer its full support to ensure Kenya hosts a successful global event just like the 2017 World Under-18 Championships.
“I know we are yet to set a functioning secretariat at Kasarani but we are on top of things and that will be done soon. Since most renovation work had already been done in 2017, what is remaining will be completed by November,” said Amina.