Moorosi Tsiane

LESOTHO’S head of mission for the African Union Region 5 Games, Caswell Moru, has apologised to athletes who were forced to sleep at ‘Manthabiseng Convention Centre on Wednesday evening. This after they failed to secure transport from the centre to the games’ village at the National University of Lesotho (NUL). The athletes had attended a send-off ceremony.

Moru attributed this to a communication breakdown among the games’ local organising committee (LOC). He however, said everything was back on track as the issues have been resolved. “What normally happens is that following the send-off ceremony, the team will report to games’ village,” Moru said this weekend. “Although there were transport arrangements, after the send-off ceremony, the buses and the drivers were nowhere to be found.

“We eventually got hold of the drivers but when the first batch of athletes arrived at the games’ village, there was no bed linen and it was decided that they should sleep on the buses. We also decided that the athletes who had been left at the convention centre to sleep there.

“The Lesotho Sport and Recreation Commission (LSRC) also arranged for the athletes who slept at the convention centre to bath and get breakfast at Durham Link the next morning.” Moru apologised to the athletes and the nation for the problems. “We sincerely apologise. We understand that the nation is angry but the issues have been resolved and the LOC has also apologised for what happened,” Moru said.