Nock eyes 2020 camp in Fukuoka

The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (Nock) plans to have Team Kenya camp in the city of Kurume in Fukuoka ahead of next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Nock acting secretary general Francis Mutuku disclosed on Thursday that a team from both Nock and the government plans to visit the city in August this year and also host officials from the city to map out logistics.

He said Nock’s executive will engage all its affiliates concerning the pre-Olympics camp noting that the final decision will be pegged on several issues including the adverse summer weather, culture and diet in Japan.

Mutuku, who was accompanied by Nock first vice president Shadrack Maluki, was addressing the press at Radisson Blu Hotel upon unveiling their 2020 Tokyo ticketing partners Kingdom Sports Group from Australia who have been endorsed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as their ticketing agent in 36 nations across the world.

“We have engaged our affiliates unlike the past where consultations were not made. We want to bring that trust and we shall do what our affiliates will say,” said Mutuku.

Maluki explained that the pre-Olympics camp will be athlete-driven and for the benefit of the nation adding that the wider consultations are meant to avoid the confusion and drama that affected the pre-Olympics camp Team Kenya held in Bedford, England ahead of the 2012 London Olympics.

“We shall have meetings with Athletics Kenya, who are the main protagonists among others since we want the process to be transparent and all inclusive,” said Maluki.

Kurume is 882km by air and 1,101km by road from the Japanese capital city of Tokyo.

Kingdom Sports Group managing director Daniel Beniston said they have entered into a strategic partnership with Nock where they will assist the locals with allocation of tickets and hotel accommodation during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“We want to see how we can deliver good packages for fans,” said Beniston adding that the tickets for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go on sale on June 14.

Mutuku further detailed that the exact cost for 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be known by the end of April when all the federations will have presented their budgets.

“We shall have consolidated all the budgets before presenting our budget to the government by May 1,” said Mutuku.