Africa-Press – Seychelles. The IX Games of La Francophonie held in Kinshasa, Congo bring together 3,335 participants, including 1,819 athletes and artists. This was announced by the director of the International Committee of the Games of La Francophonie, Zeina Mina during a press briefing held yesterday in Kinshasa.
“Even with all the problems we have had in relation to the organization of this edition – the pandemic and others – the ninth edition of the Games has already started and we are satisfied with the progress of the Games so far. The number of participants is almost the same as that of the Abidjan Games,” said Ms. Zina.
The challenge of these Games explained Ms. Zina is that the Congo country was able to organize the Games and for the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) these Games are very important. “We are thinking about merging sport and culture. We’ve had riders who are in the top eight in the world and we have Olympic potential as well. There is enormous fervor among the Congolese and even among the participants. We already have three records broken in athletics. Our challenge is to raise the standard of the Games from one edition to the next. This year we also had very high quality images of the Games which were broadcast on several channels”.There is also an application that has been developed so that the world can follow the Games live.
“All the places where the Games are held have become tourist sites and the Congolese police and the Congolese government have ensured the protection of the Games Village as well as the protection of the participants. Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi wanted the Games to be uneventful and so far we have had no incidents, despite there being a lot of people at all the sites,” said Ms. Mina.
For the small French-speaking countries, Mrs. Zina spoke about the pre-selections that are made in the countries and about the preparation of the athletes well in advance. The information must absolutely be well disseminated at all levels. Ms. Zina also spoke about the members of the jury who are international and they all have criteria and an evaluation grid to avoid any preference.
The OIF also tracks the winners for four years after the Games.
Mrs. Zina also announced that two countries have already presented their candidacy for the holding of the X Games of La Francophonie and this will be announced in September. Applications must be submitted in September and the evaluation visit will be made in October. The nomination of the host country will be made in November.
For More News And Analysis About Seychelles Follow Africa-Press
