Dylan Bettencourt
Several athletes from Gambia could not compete at the Commonwealth Games due to visa delays.
Six athletes, including top sprinter Gina Bass, were stuck in France after training in Paris for the last year.
The athletes were due to take part in the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony in Birmingham last week.
With some of the athletes scheduled to be in action on Tuesday the British Home Office said their visa applications were still being processed.
Despite finally being granted travel permission on Monday night, the Gambian athletes were not able to get to England in time.
The athletes missed out on the 100m heats in Tuesday morning’s session and will now have to settle for the 200m event.
The heats for the 200m event begin on Thursday
Gambian minister for sport Bakary Badjie said he did not understand why the visas had not been approved as the athletes applied in time and members of the Gambian delegation made it to the Games without issues.
“After missing [the] 100m they will still have time to do the 200m,” he said.
The minister added that the athletes were in line to carry the Gambian flag during the opening ceremony.
“We were hoping they would be here for the opening ceremony. One of them was meant to be our flag bearer,” he said.
“They’ve been in a foreign country training for an event that they may not attend. We expect them to be stressed.”
Alongside Bass, the other athletes are the country’s top sprinters Ebrima Camara, Adama Jammeh, Alieu Joof and Sengan Jobe with Abdou Rahman Ceesay, who will compete in the judo events.
While local Gambians have been able to compete, the African nation has not yet won a medal with their hopes centred on Bass in the track events.
Image source: @InsideTheGames
