Minister for Sports and Recreation, Kofi Iddie Adams, has defended the quality and quantity of food served to athletes during the recent African Athletics Championship, dismissing claims of poor feeding raised by some participants.

Speaking to JoyNews’ James Avedzi on May 18, Mr Adams said the allegations largely stemmed from complaints made by a single athlete whose account of events changed several times.

According to the minister, the athlete initially claimed he had been served half an egg, later changed the account to one egg, and subsequently stated that he had been given one piece of chicken before later saying he received two pieces after raising concerns.

Mr Adams said the inconsistencies in the athlete’s account raised questions about the credibility of the allegations.

He added that the athlete later claimed he consumed nine eggs daily while training in South Africa, but no prior request had been made to organisers regarding any special dietary requirements.

“If any athlete has a special diet, there's a form that you fill, so that the LOC can factor those needs in. Nobody filled the form that they needed that kind of special diet. So one athlete speaking on some levels of need should not have become the running story,” he said.

The minister argued that the overall experience of athletes during the competition had been ignored, noting that several other athletes had expressed satisfaction with the arrangements.

“Because on that same day, South African athletes were being fed and full of smiles and thanking the people. But we were not interested in talking about those ones. We were rather interested in one athlete who did not provide any evidence beyond his own statement,” he said.

Mr Adams maintained that catering was one of the areas in which the Local Organising Committee performed strongly.

He explained that meal preparation and distribution had been organised in shifts to ensure meals were served promptly throughout the competition.

“Indeed, food was one of the things that the LOC did very well. They scheduled it in such a way that two groups were providing breakfast, another set of two providing lunch, another set providing dinner, so that there would be no issues. So breakfast was timely, lunch was timely, and dinner was also timely,” he stated.

The minister insisted there was no shortage of food during the championship and reiterated that no national federation submitted requests for specialised meals for athletes.

“That request was also not made from any national federation to the Local Organising Committee that we are bringing a particular athlete that has dietary issues, and so special arrangements should be made for him,” he said.

Mr Adams, however, acknowledged that some athletes initially complained about the spicy nature of local meals served during the event.

“Some athletes also complain about the spicy nature of our foods, initially. So that was what I thought even maybe the media would talk about,” he said.

He explained that adjustments were subsequently made after organisers became aware of the concerns.

“By the third day, when it came to the attention of those in charge of food, some balancing was done, where we had spicy chicken and less spicy ones to make room for the athletes coming from countries that are not used to such spicy stuff,” he stated.

Mr Adams maintained that there were no problems with either the quality or quantity of food provided during the championship.

“So there was absolutely no problem with food in terms of quantity and in terms of quality,” he said.