CAA reschedules 2010 senior African championships in Kenya

Submitted by Leila Gichinga… on 25 September 2009 - 1:07am

The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) has pushed back the date of next year's Senior African Athletics Championships till the summer amid fears Kenyan organisers might not be ready.

A statement on the CAA website confirmed the rescheduling, but no reason was given for the postponement.

The statement simply reads: "The Senior African Championships 2010 previously supposed to take place from 28th April to 2nd May 2010 will actually take place from 28th July to 1st August 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya."

But reports emanating locally in Kenya suggests bureaucratic bottlenecks and late approval by the Kenyan government to bankroll the event must have scupper the Local Organising Committee (LOC) preparation for the championships.

It is also believed that the failure by organisers to secure the extra funds needed to set up the secretariat and to purchase of equipment led to the change of date.

For instance, the LOC chief executive officer, David Okeyo, cannot even access his secretariat at Nyayo National Stadium and the government is yet to release the initial Sh30 million it pledged to help in its administration and operations.

There is also a power tussle between the Kenyan government and Athletics Kenya over the country's ability to host the event.