Fans could grace Under-20 event
David Kariuki
Barely 100 days to the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairman Mike Rabar has reckoned that they are not leaving anything to chance to ensure a successful event from August 17-22.
Rabar said they are keen to host a memorable event devoid of adverse incidents resulting from the coronavirus.
Part of the headache for organizers of sports events worldwide has been the presence (or lack) of fans at the stadium.
Rabar said discussions are ongoing with the Ministry of Health over the possibility of admitting a restricted number of fans into Kasarani.
“We are exploring the likelihood of having a maximum of 10,000 fans into the stadium.
Kasarani is a 60,000-seater so we believe it is more than capable of accommodating this number.
We need to do that for the sake of TV cameras so the whole world can see that Kenya is hosting an event of global magnitude. What we need to work on is how the fans will be entering and exiting the stadium,” he said.
He said they have identified areas of improvement and would like to learn from the best practices around the globe.
Rabar revealed that a group of medical professionals had visited Silesia, Poland, during the just concluded World Relays Championships to borrow from their operations.
“Their visit to Silesia was a major boost of confidence for us and World Athletics.
They were there for a few days earlier as part of an observer programme to understand the different protocols required to deal with athletes, technical officials, and fans.
They went through the process to set up Covid-19 centres and the bubble programmes. These lessons have been shared with the different directorates under the organising committee,” Rabar said.
