Youth & Paralympic Games postponed
THIS year’s edition of the National Youth and Paralympic Games that had been set to start yesterday in Gweru have been postponed to December following the outbreak of typhoid in the Midlands capital.
In a statement released yesterday by the Sports Commission, the development comes after consultations were made with the various Ministries concerned, including the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The National Youth and Paralympic Games, which were previously held separately, were this year merged to run at the same time in two blocks.
The Games had been stalked by uncertainty following the outbreak of the waterborne disease in Gweru.
The Games were set to start yesterday and run until August 28 since they are now being held in two blocks with the first one featuring the Under13 and Under-18 Youth Games and Under-18 Paralympic athletes.
The second block is made up of the Under-23 Youth Games and open age Paralympic athletes.
“Following the outbreak of typhoid in Gweru, and the subsequent investigations by the Ministry of Health and Child Care, we have been in further consultations with the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs for the Midlands Province, the Sports and Recreation Commission Board, the Local Organising Committee for the Games and other key stakeholders for guidance on how to proceed with the matter at hand.
“Resultantly, we regret to advise that the above captioned Games, which were scheduled to be hosted from 15-28 August 2018, have been postponed to December 2018.
“This action has been necessitated by the need to avoid putting the lives of participating athletes and officials at risk of contracting possible typhoid.
“While the hosting of the Games has been deferred, other processes, such as resource mobilisation to support the Games, will go on until the Games are held in December 2018.
“It is also in this regard that we wish to advise all provincial teams still in camp to decamp as a matter of urgency so that they do not continue to incur further costs,” read part of the statement.
The Sports Commission together with the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation and the Local Organising Committee are now expected to convene a stakeholders’ general assembly in the near future to discuss the technical issues on how to move forward with the postponed Games.
The National Youth Games are usually key to Zimbabwe’s preparations for the biannual Africa Union Sport Council Region Five Under-20 Youth Games.
This year’s edition is scheduled to take place in Botswana, in December.
Sports Commission acting director-general Joseph Muchechetere, said the postponement of the local Games will not have any impact on their participation in the regional event.
“It’s not going to affect us, yes, we were going to pick one or two (athletes) but we will start picking our team two years before (the regional Games). “So we already have a team. “This is something we have no control over and we have sought guidance from the Government,” said Muchechetere.