The countdown remains in double digits, but they come down to just one month. Four short weeks. Three times nothing.
Kinshasa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sounded the reminder on Wednesday July 28, exactly thirty days before the opening of the 9th Francophonie Games (July 28 to August 6, 2023). Thirty days which appear to the organizers as a race against time.
Isidore Kwandja, the director of the organizing committee (CNJF), insisted on Wednesday June 28 at a press conference: the Games will take place. In Kinshasa. On the scheduled dates. “ The time is no longer for speculation, hammered the Congolese. We know that there are several questions: Will the DRC be ready? Is the infrastructure completed? Will member countries participate? To all these questions, the answer is yes"
On the question of infrastructure, the picture remains incomplete. The Martyrs stadium complex (photo above), where the women's basketball tournament and athletics competitions are to be held, is almost ready. The gymnasium, in particular, now air-conditioned and equipped with a new roof, is in the finishing stages. The athletics track has been laid. The site should be handed over to the organizers at the end of the week.
On the other hand, the second site of the Games, the Tata Raphaël stadium, planned in particular for football and wrestling, is showing a worrying delay. “ We are working day and night to be ready on time”, repeat the organizers. But doubts about the layout of the facilities could force the Congolese to move the table tennis tournament.
Another gray area: the athletes’ village. Installed at the University of Kinshasa, it is not ready for use either, less than a month before the arrival of the first delegations.
Another question, participation. Present at all editions of the sporting and cultural event since its creation in 1989 in Morocco, Quebec announced at the beginning of the week its decision not to send athletes and artists. Quebec authorities cited questions about the safety, health and transportation of athletes.
New Brunswick, another of the three Canadian delegations invited to the Games, will be well represented, despite the hesitations of its authorities. But his delegation was revised downwards. It should have around a dozen members.
France has also chosen to scale back. Very widely represented in the artistic events, it will be less so in the sporting part. Athletics, in particular, would ultimately not send a team to Kinshasa. Daniel Zielinski, the head of the French delegation, explained last May to FrancsJeux that the French delegation would count “ 60 to 80 people, including staff members. » Its size should ultimately be smaller.
Isidore Kwandja recalled this on Wednesday June 28, at a press conference, in front of a backdrop announcing D – 30 days before the opening: the 2023 Francophonie Games, already postponed twice, “ are a real challenge for the DRC. » But the Congolese does not hold back his enthusiasm: “ We are convinced that this edition will remain in the golden book of the Francophonie Games. It will be an exceptional moment, where the cultural and sporting greatness of the DRC and the French-speaking world will be exhibited. »
