Host, Delta State, has confirmed the largest ever delegation of 1000 athletes to the forthcoming . The sports fiesta is scheduled to run from November 28 to December 10.
Barely 18 days to the commencement of National Sports Festival tagged Delta 2022 a building under construction at the multi-purpose sport complex of the Stephen Keshi Stadium, has collapsed bringing doubt as whether the festival will still go ahead as planned.Meanwhile, unconfirmed reports claimed that three persons feared dead as a result of the incident but, the government of Delta State has denied such reports, saying that no life was lost at the incident.
Delta State Commissioner for Information Mr Charles Aniagwu has said no loss of life was recorded on the accident which occurred at the construction site of the indoor sports complex at the Stephen Keshi Stadium Asaba.
Aniagwu added that the accident was caused by misalignment of the crane by its operator which led to the heavy duty equipment crashing on the wall in one of the floors.
He revealed that only one person sustained injury during the accident .
“The accident was caused by the crane operator who couldn’t properly align the lift while trying to take up some very heavy duty equipment up the particular floor and it fell on the wall which led to a crash of a part of the wall”he said .
The two-storey sport complex under construction is being prepared for the 21st National Sports Festival (NSF) to be hosted at the stadium from November 28, this year.
New National Star reported that the collapsed building was recently inspected by the Minister of Sports, Sunday Dare, who gave a pass mark, saying that the facilities were 80% ready for use.
However, some structural engineers expressed concerns over the speed at which the construction was going, doubting the integrity of the buildings under construction.
