Tokyo Olympics: First Team Kenya squad to leave for Japan on July 5

Kenya's Helen Onsando Obiri celebrates after she won the silver medal in the Women's 5000m Final during the athletics event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 19, 2016. [AFP PHOTO / Leon NEAL]

The first contingent of Team Kenya for the 2020 Olympic Games will depart the country on July 5 for a 12-day training camp in Kurume City, Japan, before heading to Tokyo for the Games.

The announcement made by the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage Amina Mohamed, who said Team Kenya will strictly adhere to the Tokyo 2020 Playbook which has all the guidelines for COVID-19 protocols.

“The Ministry, in conjunction with the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) and the Kenya National Paralympic Committee (KNPC) will continue to educate and sensitize athletes on the playbook with daily activity logs submitted to the Ministry by the General Team Managers until the conclusion of the Games,” CS Amina said in a statement.

The CS also directed that all sports federations must submit weekly returns of COVID-19 tests carried out on participating sportsmen and women.

COVID-19 testing will be mandatory at the cost of Sports Federations, Sports Organisations, participants, or event organisers as applicable for all competitions while team Kenya testing costs shall be met by the Government.

Sports CS Amina Mohamed. [File, The Standard]

She said that federations entering teams for international events will be required to seek travel clearance from the Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage and the designated Team Medical Personnel (with training in Medicine).

“The Ministry will not authorize travel to countries where the COVID-19 case load is established to be high or where the Ministry of Health advises to be high risk. The Ministry will prepare and release elaborate bubble camp training and event protocols. All Olympic participating teams will be accommodated at designated Bubble training camps in strict compliance with these Guidelines, the Ministry of Health Guidelines and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games playbooks,” Amina stated.

“Testing of Athletes shall be done every 96 hours until the commencement of the Olympic Games to ensure that Kenyan athletes are safe and exposed to the rigors of COVID-19 control expected in Tokyo.”

Private fitness clubs were given green light to re-open immediately and observe all the containment measures including strict social distancing, sanitization, handwashing among other measures as provided in the Guidelines.

All Under 18 Sports remain suspended only special consideration will be granted to National Teams preparing for select international events.