AFRICA 2018: Exhausted and Frustrated athletes Stranded in Nigeria

Hours before the 21^st Africa Senior Athletics Championships commence, over 300 athletes  are stuck in Lagos at the Airport ahead of the competition in Asaba, on Wednesday (August 1^st).

The poor organisation has seen scores of athletes, officials and journalists cry foul as they got stranded at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

With no scheduled flights to Asaba Airport, the organisers have to been forced to charter aircraft to ferry delegations from Lagos to Asaba which is approximately 500 kilometres away from Lagos.

With the backlog going three days back, transfers to Asaba being handled on a first-come-first-served basis with the chartered flights unable to meet the demand

Athletes and officials have suffered with luggage either lost or misplaced in the ensuing melee.

But in reality, it remains to be seen if the delegations will eventually make it in Asaba in time to prepare for the opening day’s programme and compete as planned.

According to the schedule, competition starts on Wednesday at 9am with the decathlon’s 100 metres race

The evening programme’s first medal event will be the men’s 10,000 metres final from 6pm local time (8pm Kenyan time).

“It is total chaos here,” sports journalist Muigai Kiguru who is travelling in the Kenyan party, was quoted in a section of the press.

“I hear there could be a flight for about 70. It seems like some (athletes) will travel on Wednesday,” he added.

On Tuesday morning, the Kenyan team could still not get a flight to Asaba with some members of the delegation sharing beds at the airport hotels upon arrival on Monday.