Ausc games hosting preps get 2nd nod

 The African Union Sports Council (Ausc) Region 5 has said the country’s preparations to host this year’s Youth Games are on track.

The council’s chief executive officer (CEO) Stanley Mutoya issued the seal of approval during a media briefing in Lilongwe on Saturday after inspecting designated facilities for the games.

Athletes from Ausc Region 5 member countries Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are expected to compete from December 2 to 11.

Among the inspected facilities were the Kamuzu Institute for Sports and Bingu National Stadium netball court in Lilongwe, the host city.

Said Mutoya: “ We have divided the hosts’ preparations in three phases. First one, capacity [to host the games] from July to December 2021. Secondly, it’s the operational phase which is January to July this year.

“When we came to assess phase one, we looked at government’s goodwill, do we have a local committee staff in place? Do we have a games village? And do we have a confederation to run those games and the answer is yes.”

The Ausc CEO played down fears that government may not finalise key infrastructure such as the Olympic standard swimming pool and the netball arena.

“We believe that everything will be sorted out by December. The resolution is that we are very happy. Malawi has demonstrated that they can deliver the games come December,” he said.

On his part, Ministry of Youth and Sports Principal Secretary Oliver Kabambe said they will push to finalise the remaining segments of the preparations to ensure successful games.

He also said the ministry is assembling a group of good athletes capable of winning medals during the games.

“We have identified a good crop of athletes. We were in Lesotho last year where we featured 112 athletes. We will continue to groom them while recruiting additional ones,” he said.

The games include football, netball, boxing, swimming and athletics.