Philip Shaibu, Chairman of the festival’s Local Organising Committee (LOC) and also Deputy Governor of Edo, disclosed this at a news conference in Benin.
“The decision was taken as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the games,” he said.
The LOC chairman however pointed out that other channels where the games could be watched live by spectators have been put in place.
“Television stations will be beaming the games live, while social media channels among others will also be live-streaming the games.”
Shaibu appealed to the Federal Government for timely release of funds to enable the hosting of the Sports Festival to avoid further postponement of the games.
He noted that the state had lost a huge amount of money due to these postponements but that asides the challenges of funding, the state was well prepared to host the rest of the country.
“We are ready. We have always been ready. However, we incurred a huge cost over the postponements the games have suffered occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We again agreed to host in anticipation of Federal Government’s support. We are using this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to release this funds to avoid another postponement,” the LOC chairman stated.
Shaibu also reiterated adherence to the guidelines that had been released by the organisers of the games.
He said the guidelines were released after a meeting between the LOC and the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
“Part of the decisions taken at the meeting was that all participating athletes must carry out COVID-19 test 72 hours before arriving in Edo on April 2 when the festival is scheduled to commence.”
Shaibu further said the athletes must have taken the COVID-19 vaccine, at least 12 days before the commencement of the festival.
“We are doing all we can to ensure that the virus is not spread during the games and we are working assiduously with all stakeholders to ensure this is achieved.
“The officials of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), will be in Edo four days before the commencement of the games,” the 20th NSF LOC chairman said.
The 20th NSF tagged “Edo 2020” has been rescheduled to take place from April 2 to April 14 after several postponements.
