Zimpapers Logo

Sikhumbuzo Moyo Senior Sports Reporter
VENUES for the forthcoming African Union Region Five Under-20 Games will now be under the management of the Regional Organising Committee as per the September 30 deadline.The Games will be held in Bulawayo from December 5 to 14 and construction and renovation work has been underway since May.

Speaking to Chronicle Sport, the Local Organising Committee chairperson, Khonzani Ncube, said they were now ready to hand over the facilities to the regional body and were just awaiting for communication from them.

“As the Local Organising Committee we are ready to hand over the facilities to the Regional Organising Committee. We have done our part which I must say was to our level best,” said Ncube.

She said a delay in the erection of the tartan track at White City Stadium would see an extension by about two weeks of the reconstruction work there.

“It’s massive construction work (erection of the tartan track) and owing to a delay in the start of the programme, we might be behind  by about two weeks to finish White City but otherwise everything else is well on course,” said Ncube.

Last week, the Chief Secretary to the President and  Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, praised the Ministry of Sports, Arts and Culture for the speedy manner in which they carried out the renovations and construction work and re-affirmed government’s position that the September 30 deadline would be met.

Sibanda was speaking soon after touring the eight venues that will be used during the two-week sporting jamboree. Eleven countries have since confirmed they will take part in the bi-annual Games that are set to be officially opened by President Mugabe.

According to the LOC’s head of marketing Kennedy Ndebele, more than 1,300 athletes are expected to compete in eight sporting disciplines.

The 11 countries are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Seychelles, Zambia and hosts Zimbabwe.

“It is expected that the first countries will arrive here in early December probably just to acclimatise while in terms of numbers, we expect more than 1,300 athletes,” said Ndebele.