Ivorian Crisis Affects Postponement Of WAPOGA Games

The political crisis in Cote d’Ivoire has led to the postponement of the West Africa Polytechnic Games (WAPOGA) earlier scheduled for last month, the Director of Sports, Yaba College of Technology, Fredrick Yamala, has said.

Yamala told newsmen yesterday in Lagos that the WAPOGA board could not hold their pre-Games meeting before June to finalise arrangements because of the crisis.

“Due to the political crisis between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Quatarra, the board could not meet to discuss issues concerning WAPOGA, but now the crisis has been resolved,” he said.

Yamala disclosed that a new date for the meeting had been fixed for July in Ghana.

According to him, the board will then decide on a new date and venue for the Games.

“We cannot conduct the Games till the WAPOGA General Assembly meeting is held in Ghana to discuss modalities for the event. The board will meet hopefully before the end of July,” he said.

He said that Yabatech had been preparing its athletes for the Games and the Nigeria Polytechnic Games (NIPOGA) billed for November.

“We have been training our athletes since the end of last year to make sure we excel at the Games and also in preparation for NIPOGA in November,” Yamala said.

Yamala also expressed happiness that some of the institution’s students were representing Lagos State at the National Sports Festival in Port Harcourt.

The sports director also advised student athletes to take their studies seriously as there was life after sports.

“Students should take their academics seriously because after their sporting careers, they can always fall back on their certificates,” he said.