Athletics Kenya now says Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala has himself to blame for the visa delay that almost saw him miss out on the World Championship in the USA.
AK in a statement says the 100M sprinter was expected to undertake an individual assessment test at the Embassy’s visa section to which he did not comply.
Signed by its President Gen (Rtd) Jackson Tuwei AK said at this point neither it nor the ministry could intervene as that is a requirement.
AK conducted trials for the Championships between June 24 and 25, 2022, and selected a delegation of 80 athletes including government officials.
“Thereafter, Athletics Kenya engaged an external expert firm to process the visa applications for the travelling delegation to ensure a smooth process without challenges. Athletics Kenya did not engage the Ministry during this initial visa application,” said Tuwei.
Tuwei’s remarks come amid public outrage on why Omanyala’s visa was delayed yet the other athletes were issued the document and travelled in good time.
But AK in response said, “It is important to mention that Ferdinand Omanyala went for Visa Biometrics at the Embassy of the United States in Nairobi on July 7, 2022, alongside other athletes. The rest were issued their visas 2 days later while Omanyala’s passport was not released. When we enquired why, we were informed that he needed to fill in an additional form referred to as supplementary questions for visa applicants to verify some facts.”
Athletics Kenya claims the delay was beyond them and that Omanyala had to undertake the rest of the process by himself.
“Neither the Ministry nor Athletics Kenya could intervene because the required processes by the Embassy had to be undertaken individually,” said Tuwei.
Omanyala although managed to secure a flight to participate in the championships at Oregon, he bowed out of the competition after he finished fifth in the semi-finals.
He waits to participate in the Common Wealth games later on.
On the other side, AK further dismissed claims that a delegation of 32 unknown individuals had travelled to Oregon on a ‘joy riding’ mission at the expense of the athletes.
Tuwei said as far as AK is concerned, only three government officials travelled with the delegation.
“The allegation that 32 government officials travelled to Oregon unprocedural is news to Athletics Kenya. To the best of our knowledge, only three Government officials have travelled to Oregon for the 2022 World Athletics Championships. Athletics Kenya expects the Cabinet Secretary to travel to the games as well as have scheduled meetings with Nike and World Athletics,” said Tuwei.
Tuwei said strict measures have been put in place to ensure that only officials with specific roles accompany teams out of the country.
On Thursday last week, Omanyala had indicated he would not be participating in the event due to the visa hitch. In a drastic turn of events, Omanyala confirmed to The Standard his visa was ready.
“I have been called to go and pick up the passport, that my visa is ready. This is a huge relief. Now my hope is that I will be in Oregon before the race starts, my race is scheduled around 4am Kenyan time, that’s Saturday morning,” Omanyala told Standard Sports.
Omanyala was, however, not the only athlete hit by the Visa hitch. Athletes from South Africa, Gambia and India also had their visas delayed.
Tokyo Olympics 100 metres semi-finalist Gift Leotleta (South Africa) along with nine other runners were reportedly stranded in Italy due to delayed visas.
200 metres runner Dhanalakshmi Sekar (India) also experienced delays in his visa.
Athletics Kenya president Jackson Tuwei, Team Kenya manager Rono Bunei, physiotherapists Jessica Shiraku, John Muraya and Japheth Kariakim and team doctor Victor Bargori also experienced visa hitches.
Omanyala thanked President Uhuru Kenyatta, the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage, and Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed for working fast to get his visa sorted.
“Visa challenges are faced by all Kenyans and people daily, in this case I was no different. I will also be competing in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on July 28th. Looking forward to making all Kenyans proud,” he said.
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