LOC apologises over disruptions at African Athletics Championships

A member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the 2026 African Senior Athletics Championships, Veronica Commey, has apologised to journalists and athletes over operational challenges that affected activities on the opening day of the competition in Accra.

Addressing concerns raised during the championships, Commey acknowledged that excessive noise around the competition venue created an uncomfortable working environment for members of the media.

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“Beyond everything else, we know that there was a lot of unwanted noise around the neighbourhood yesterday,” she said.

Drawing from her experience as a journalist, she admitted the situation was unacceptable and assured stakeholders that measures had been put in place to prevent a recurrence.

“I have been a journalist for years, travelled the world, and I understand that it is not acceptable. You need a very quiet environment for you to be able to operate,”

she added while apologising to the media.

Commey also responded to complaints surrounding food shortages and rationing at the event village, insisting organisers had taken steps to address the concerns.

“Personally, I was taken a little aback,” she noted, explaining that organisers believed enough food had been made available but were still investigating the source of the complaints.

The LOC member further revealed that technical and power-related challenges disrupted operations on the first day of competition, affecting equipment and real-time transmission of results.

According to her, multiple power fluctuations created technical difficulties despite the availability of backup generators.

“What we have done today is to isolate a lot of the power so we don’t have a repeat of what happened yesterday,” she explained.

Commey also admitted that unstable Wi-Fi services affected media work and live reporting during the championships but assured journalists that efforts were underway to improve connectivity.

“We do know that you need it to be able to send stories in real time, so we have been working on that as much as possible,” she said.

PAH/JE

Watch highlights from Day One of the African Athletics Championship