11th Indian Ocean Islands Games |01 September 2023

Philip Moustache (Photo: Roland Duval)

Seychellois athletes behaving well, delegation heads confirm amidst rumours of misconduct

Following gossips that some athletes were misbehaving at their Games’ Village, Sports NATION met with the two heads of delegation, namely Shihan Philip Moustache who is in charge of the men’s delegation, and Delta Ward-Horner, who is responsible for the female athletes, to shed some light on the matter.

Both individuals confirmed that Team Seychelles, so far is maintaining a good sense of behaviour and discipline at the Games.

Mrs Ward-Horner said everything is going on well so far except for one sporting discipline which was encountering some issues at the beginning but has now been sorted out.

She said the athletes are behaving well, and she has not received any complaints whatsoever until now.

Mrs Ward-Horner explained that in terms of complaints, there were a lot at the beginning of the Games, but, based on her experience, she explained to the athletes that, at least during the first three days at Games, things are a bit unsettled.

Among the complaints were food and transportation which were being highlighted by delegates from other countries and not only Seychelles.

The head of women’s delegation further explained that most of the team managers are doing a great job leading their athletes, sorting out various issues accordingly.

“It all depends on the managers. If they take on their responsibilities, everything will go well,” added Mrs Ward-Horner who further explained that most issues resulted from the scattered accommodations.

She said since the athletes are not all in one given location, it makes it difficult for the secretariat to function properly as members of the delegation are in different locations.

“If we were all in one place, it would have been much easier to manage the team, and deal with the issues.” added Mrs Ward-Horner.

On his part, Shihan Moustache noted that to date, everything is going well, due to the good work of the team managers who have been given strict directives on how to manage their athletes, both at the Games’ Village, and the different venues.

In terms of complaints, Shihan Moustache said there were a lot in the beginning, including food, which was being served far away from the village, as well as transportation.

“On the whole, I am very satisfied with the behaviour of the athletes and I would like to commend the good job of the team managers,” concluded Shihan Moustache.

Roland Duval