South American Games Saga: The GOA have their say on absence of medical personnel

The Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) although shouldering some of the blame for the recent debacle surrounding the absence of a medical professional at the South American Games; has laid out justifications, as to why the Guyanese contingent travelled to Paraguay without such.
These revelations were made at a GOA Press briefing on Tuesday afternoon, at their Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Head office, where the President, executives and athletes summed up Guyana’s outing at the October 1st to 15th, 2022 Games.
Responding to a questioned posed by a media operative regarding the GOA’s inability to send a physiotherapist with the team, although two were present at the Commonwealth Games, GOA President K.A. Juman Yassin explained that the problem laid at the Executive level of the body.
“We, the GOA, started to send a physio from the Tokyo Olympics, prior to that, we did not. And then we sent physio to the Cali Games in Columbia,” Yassin commented.

He further explained, “And the reason, I’m told, other members of the executives were in charge of selecting and arrangement. I’m told that because of the Commonwealth games and the Caribbean Games, that the time had flown by and that the slot of time in which you had to submit the names of the physio had passed. That is why a physio didn’t go.”
The GOA Boss also laid blame at the feet of the host country, highlighting that their bid to host the games encompasses such emergencies.
Yassin divulged, “When a country hosts a game, like the Olympics or like the South American games that the team went to, they bid and part of their bidding is to also indicate what are the medical facilities, in the event that there is any need.”
“They had submitted that there will be medical personnel there, that the hospitals would be there and that if anybody needs medical treatment, they will be attended to,” he added.
However, Yassin did take responsibility for the unfortunate situation that Boxer Keevin Allicock found himself in.
“Coming back to it, GOA should take some blame, yes, that the physio wasn’t there. But at the end of the day, even if a physio was there, he had to go to the hospital, it was an emergency and an ambulance had to be called because the state that he was in necessitated that.”
In the same breath, Yassin welcomed President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali’s recent announcement, about facilitating the necessary medical personnel to travel with Guyanese athletes.
Yassin said, “I listened to the address of His Excellency, President Ali, I’m heartened that he wishes his government to be able to finance a physio and a doctor to be on the teams going forward. That’s excellent.”
On the other hand, President of the Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA) and GOA Executive, Godfrey Munroe added another perspective to the issue, disclosing sending a medical doctor requires more than what meets the eye.
“Some systems fell down and we accept culpability in that regard but I don’t think, as Dion said, its an opportunity to blame anyone but to look at each one of us and see where the mistakes lie and what else we can do improve,” Munroe initially stated about the incident.
However, he went on to add, “One area of clarity, I’d like to provide, is the medical doctor as everybody refers to, that can go to these games, its not as easy as is, because they require a practicing license in that particular country, in order to be of any aid to our athletes.”
About two weeks ago, Keevin Allicock, in a public statement on social media, disclosed that he suffered major pains and had to be rushed to the hospital in Asuncion, Paraguay, and was later diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis. The revelation and Guyana’s lack of medical personnel at the games sparked an ongoing conversation about the way athletes are treated in Guyana. (Jemima Holmes)