Moments after his appointment as chairman of the Comoros organising committee for the 2027 Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG), Mohamed Issimaila spoke candidly about the challenges facing his country as hosts.
"There's the time factor, and there are a lot of things to do," said the former youth and sports minister.
“What we need to do now is get all the teams together and set the objectives. There's also the sports organisation itself.”
The IOIG will be held in Comoros for the first time in the 45-year history of a gala created to improve regional cooperation through sport.
More than 2,000 athletes from seven countries featured in 17 disciplines during the 2023 IOIG in Madagascar.
After 10 days of competition, the hosts topped the medal table with 121 golds in their haul of 272 prizes.
It was fitting recompense for Madagascar who stepped in after the Maldives pulled out of staging the event.
Comoros, who finished much further down the medal table, were awarded hosting rights on 31 August, 2023, a few days before the end of the Games.
Fifteen months later, President Azali Assoumani installed Issimaila as the man responsible for preparing, coordinating and supervising the meeting.
It is understood Chinese contractors will be drafted in to construct a 50-metre length basin for the 40 events planned in the swimming pool. Accommodation for the athletes and tourists will also be high on the agenda.
"We need deeds more than words," warned Assoumani, who claimed a fourth term as president last January. "We have no right to make mistakes."
The 12th IOIG will fall mid way through a reign which started with allegations of ballot rigging and days of protests in which one person died and dozens were injured.
Comoros, a group of three islands off the coast of Mozambique with a population of 800,000, has experienced 20 coups or attempted coups since its independence from France in 1975.
It has also gained notoriety as a source of illegal migration to the nearby French island of Mayotte, which has been a participant at the IOIG since 2003.
The 2027 Games will include athletics, badminton, handball, weightlifting and boxing, as well as para athletics and para swimming.
Inspection
They will be a far cry from the inaugural event in 1979 in Réunion where 1,000 athletes from the host country as well as Comoros, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles competed. The Games charter – drafted with Sri Lanka scheduled to take part – stipulated an event every four years.
But that fell instantly by the wayside along with Sri Lanka.
Madagascar joined up for the second IOIG in 1985 in Mauritius. Mayotte's appearance for the first time at the sixth Games in 2003 increased the number of countries to seven.
Inspection teams sanctioned by the International OIympic Committee are expected to tour Comoros early next year to gauge the progress of the work.
"I dare to hope that we will put aside our differences and contradictions, and unite for this event that will honour the country today and tomorrow," said Assoumani.
"Our duty now is to accomplish them successfully and, above all, with pride.”
(with additional reporting Abdallah Mzembaba in Moroni)
