•Tartan tracks, indoor halls ready
The Local Organising Committee of the Delta 2022 National Sports Festival says the Games will hold as scheduled amid reports about a possible shift in date for the event, insisting the November 28 to December 10 date remains intact.
Co-chairman of the LOC Tonobok Okowa assured that facilities were in top shape for a successful festival.
“The festival will hold as planned,” Okowa stated on Thursday.
“The swimming pool is ready, and the multi-purpose indoor sports hall will be handed over to us on Saturday. The tartan tracks, which is the first of it’s kind in sub-Saharan Africa, will equally be handed over to us on Saturday.
“Those handling the last phase of the tartan tracks are working in two shifts, and the marking will be completed on Friday (today),” Okowa, who is also the Chairman, Delta Sports Commission and President Athletics Federation of Nigeria, added.
Also, Adviser to the LOC, Solomon Ogba, explained that arrival of athletes and officials was billed for November 28 and 29, while the opening ceremony holds November 30.
Ogba added that 11, 000 athletes would participate at Delta 2022 National Sports Festival, stating that the hostel facilities put in place for the Games by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa’s administration would be inherited by schools in the state.
Meanwhile, a team of inspectors from the Main Organising Committee was in the state for a final round of inspection of some of the facilities.
The team, headed by MOC secretary, Peter Nelson, was at Isele-Uku, headquarters of Aniocha North Local Government Area and St Patrick’s College, Asaba to inspect the hostels meant for the accommodation of some of the contingents.
