Accreditation glitch locks out stadium staff by AFP

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Event:

ICC World Cup 2006/07

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DateLine: 6th March 2007

 

Several Cricket World Cup 2007 workers and volunteers were locked out of the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Complex for Monday's warm-up match between hosts West Indies and Kenya.

 

World Cup organisers have indicated that the situation stemmed from the lateness of thousands of applications from a large number of stadium workers and volunteers, and this meant a number of key personnel were not in place prior to the start of the match.

 

"It would appear that despite our best efforts over the past two years, including a tailored accreditation education programme, briefing stakeholders in all host nations, many people did not appreciate the stringent requirements of a world event's accreditation system," remarked Mandy Keegan, accreditation programme manager, in a CWC 2007 news release.

 

"We have a very clear policy for accreditation to this event and everyone applying for accreditation must complete a registration and receive authorisation from a senior representative before being submitted for security screening.

 

"This process is not one that can be turned around in a matter of minutes, hence the setting of such early deadlines to accommodate these security requirements."

 

The Jamaica Observer newspaper noted the situation was so grave that Michael Hall, the chief cricket operations officer for CWC 2007, had to assist head curator Lester Robinson and two other members of the grounds crew to remove the covers from the pitch - close to an hour later than would normally be the case.

 

The high number of essential operational' staff, who had not applied in time for accreditation, were issued with temporary accreditation passes, the CWC 2007 news release added.

 

The passes will be replaced with full badges once the security screening formalities have been completed. Both Hall and Dr. Wayne Reid, chairman of Jamaica's Local Organising Committee, played down the matter, and indicated it was another learning experience.

 

"What was good was that despite the glitches, people were able to respond, and do what they had to do under pressure," Dr. Reid said.

 

Hall said: "The good thing is that we were able to find a solution. We had people who did what had to be done even though they were not necessarily here to perform that function."

 

The Trelawny Multi-Purpose Complex was hosting the second of four warm-up matches on Tuesday between India and the Netherlands, and things appeared to have been smoothed out. The Official Opening Ceremony of CWC 2007 will also take place at this venue on Sunday.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)