NAIROBI, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government on Wednesday promised to make advance plans for the departure of the country's team from the 21st CAA Africa Athletics Championships that end on Sunday.
Peter Kaberia, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Heritage announced a coordinated effort with the Kenya High Commission in Nigeria would be rolled out to bring the team home after the continental track and field showpiece.
"We have been in touch with the team all through and also the embassy has played a great role to ensure they travelled today (Wednesday)," Kaberia told journalists in Nairobi.
The government was issuing a formal statement following reports the team of almost 100 members with 61 athletes was stranded at the Murtala International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria for 48 hours before they finally left for Asaba.
"We will also communicate with the team there and ensure the same does not happen when they are leaving after the championship," he added, saying they would arrange the return flights and connections for the Kenyan team before Sunday.
The Kenyan officials blamed organizers for the chaos that saw over 300 athletes stranded at the airport sparking outrage across the country with top athletes sharing their grief on social media.
"This was not our doing because we had been in constant communication with the local Organizing Committee and everything was said to have been well planned. They did not have the capacity to handle such a high number of athletes coming in with few flights available," said Noor Hassan Noor, the Sports Chief Administrative Secretary.
The final batch of athletes arrived at Asaba an hour and a half before the official start of the competition on Wednesday afternoon having left for Nigeria on Monday.
