Raymond Jaravaza Sports Correspondent
A total of 750 athletes, officials and delegates had registered for the Confederation of Universities and College Sports Association (CUCSA) in Bulawayo yesterday. Despite a false start on Monday that saw fans waiting for hours for the official opening ceremony to commence at White City Stadium and the games’ schedule only being released yesterday, CUCSA secretary-general Nshimbi Mwale was confident the event would be a success.
Mwale told journalists at the Bulawayo Polytechnic, the games’ command centre, that it would be unfair to judge the state of preparedness of the games based on the false start experienced on the opening day.
“Two years ago Zambia hosted the games and I can tell you that hosting an event of this magnitude comes with its set of challenges and not everything will run 100 percent smoothly. ‘‘The aim of the games is to promote regional integration amongst our athletes through sport and if we can achieve that then we will be satisfied as CUCSA,” said Mwale.
The Zambian official said the CUCSA executive had been invited to the country ahead of the games to assess the security situation in Zimbabwe and were satisfied that all athletes would be safe in the aftermath of civil disturbances that rocked part of the country last month.
“We were assured by the local organising committee and the Zimbabwean government that our athletes will be safe and the failure by Mozambique, Swaziland and Namibia to take part is not as a result of safety concerns.
‘‘We should appreciate that countries in the region are experiencing economic challenges and the three countries couldn’t make it due to financial constraints.
“Even some Zambian institutions were reluctant to release their students, but after reassurances from the Zimbabwean authorities, we were satisfied that the security situation was well under control,” he said.
Meanwhile, in football matches played yesterday at Barbourfields Stadium and Hartsfield Grounds, the Zimbabwe men’s team drew 1-1 with Botswana, while the Zambian ladies team beat Botswana 4-0.
In basketball, South Africa men lost 67-70 to Zambia. the Zimbabwe women’s team beat Zambia 3-0 in volleyball.
The Zimbabwe men’s tennis team won three matches against Malawi, while their ladies’ compatriots won three matches and lost one against Botswana.
More basketball and volleyball matches were scheduled for last night at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) to afford members of the public a chance to watch the games.
Athletics and chess are slated for today at White City Stadium and the National University of Science and Technology (Nust). — @RaymondJaravaza