The deputy director and spokesperson of the Games Organising Committee (COJA), Penalva Cesar, told a Maputo press conference on Friday that the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), held 148 tests on athletes competing in the 21 sports in the games, and all were negative.
This is rather fewer than the 200 tests that WADA promised before the start of the games. Six WADA specialists came to Maputo to administer the tests, and to educate athletes, coaches and managers about the dangers of doping.
“We are pleased with the 148 tests carried out, because none of them was positive”, said Cesar. “We would have liked a larger number of tests, but this was not possible because the tests are very expensive. Each test costs 400 US dollars”.
The shortage of money caused the number of planned tests to be scaled back from 200 to 150. Unspecified interference by an official of the African Football confederation (CAF), led to invalidating a test of a Ugandan athlete, and this situation automatically invalidated the second test of a Ugandan.
COJA has avoided a threatened strike by its drivers, which might have paralysed the last few days of the games, by doubling their wages.
The deal was reached in last minute negotiations in which the drivers clearly had the upper hand, although Cesar spoke of finding “a common dominator”. The drivers had been paid 450 meticais (17 US dollars) a day, and this sum has now risen to 900 meticais a day.
Cesar said there is still no information as to the whereabouts of the 15 Ethiopian athletes who disappeared from the games village earlier this week. The Mozambican police and immigration authorities are looking into the matter, but it is suspected that the Ethiopians may have slipped across the border into South Africa.
Post published in: Sport