Africa-Press – Lesotho. Following the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 troika virtually conducted meeting, Lesotho has decided to withdraw its hosting rights of the much anticipated youth games scheduled for December 2020. In early March, Troika resolved that the 2020 AUSC Region 5 Youth Games be postponed to April/May 2021 on conditions that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to exist by the month of July 2020 and Lesotho was also encouraged to continue to prepare for the hosting of the games. In an exclusive interview with Informative Sport the Ministry of Gender, Youth, Sports and
Recreation (MGYSR) Public Relations Officer (PRO) Maqalika Matsepe said due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak Lesotho resolved to withdraw its hosting rights.
Matsepe said the Covid-19 in the country is spreading at an alarming rate “and it seems the fight against this virus worldwide is taking longer than we had anticipated,” he said. Maqalika added that the financial budget aimed for the construction of playgrounds earmarked for the games has also been diverted to helping the country fight against the pandemic. Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC) acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Teboho Malataliana said they are expecting a formal
announcement from the Ministry of the proceedings on final conclusions so that they advise the ministry where applicable. “We don’t know about the work that has been completed on the ground, the only thing we are engaged on as LSRC is ensuring that we build a very strong ‘team Lesotho’ to compete at this games,”
he added. The AUSC Region 5 games were launched by the former Minister of Gender, Youth, Sports and Recreation Dr Mahali Phamotse in October 2019. Over 3000 athletes and officials were expected to grace the Mountain Kingdom for the 10 days sports extravaganza. AUSC Region 5 consists of Lesotho, Angola, Botswana, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. AUSC is divided into 5 regions across the African continent.
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