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IAAF delegate approves Nairobi 2017 World Under-18 preparations

Xinhua, June 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya is on track to host the 2017 IAAF World Under-18 Championships, Carlo Deangu, the delegate sent by the world body for the first inspection visit in Nairobi declared on Monday.

However, the Events Operations chief at IAAF said the stadium tartan and warm-up tracks at Safaricom Stadium have to be replaced ahead of the global event scheduled for July 12 to 16 next year.

"As we all know, there have been challenges at Athletics Kenya especially with formation of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), follow up from the bidding procedure to the action delivery of the event. I' m satisfied with their presentation," the visiting delegate said after conducting the first part of his tour.

"The first proposed venue was Nyayo Stadium but it did not meet all the requirements, though Kasarani Stadium is larger than we expected we are okay with the venue," the visiting delegate added.

He will return for his second visit after mid of next month with the LOC promising to have prepared its first comprehensive Progress Report detailing the plans in place to renovate the venue and the tendering process for equipment and other amenities needed for the global age showpiece.

"In 2007, I witnessed Kenya host World Cross-Country Championship in Mombasa and they brought enthusiasm for athletics. I believe that even at the U18 championships it will be the same hence we gave Kenya a chance to bring more colour to the event," Daengu added.

At a press conference following his inspection, local organisers declared that Kenyatta University (KU), located 20km from Nairobi' s Central Business District and 12km from the Safaricom Stadium is the designated Athletes' village.

"The reason why we choose KU is because it is not advisable to put youngsters in different hotels in town since managing them will be a bit hard. It was appropriate the venue due to the structure and space available. It will be easy to secure them, facilitate their transport and is near the venue," LOC chairman, Mwangi Muthee said.

Kenya won the right to host the biennial competition at the IAAF Congress ahead of the Beijing World Championships in China last year.

The country' s government has already released 7 million U.S. dollars of the projected 20 million dollars budget to the LOC as Kenya races against time to be ready for the championships. Endit