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Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

THE Bulawayo Athletics Board (Bab) is hopeful the inter-city travel ban will be lifted in time for the inter-provincial championships next month.

The annual event is for the last weekend of September and will be the first athletics event since sporting events were suspended in March if it goes ahead.

Bab chairperson Manuel Mpofu said they were continuing with preparations for the meet despite uncertainty still clouding hosting of the event.

“Preparations are still ongoing and we are confident that the safety of our athletes will be guaranteed if the event goes ahead. The organising committee has done a good job in terms of ensuring that everything is in place. We keep hoping that the travel ban is lifted so that our athletes can travel. Remember this is a national event so we are expecting athletes from all over the country. Our athletes are now rusty and this event will help them get back on track,” said Mpofu.

White City Stadium, venue for the tournament, is set to undergo fumigation for the coronavirus ahead of the event.

The draft programme is already out and quotations for fumigation chemicals, infrared thermometers and sanitisers have been done.

Should the event be given the green light, athletes will compete in the 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m and 5 000m. Relays as well as field events have been scrapped for this event, as a safety measure. – @innocentskizoe