The Uganda national Rugby team the Rugby Cranes have been dealt a huge blow in their pursuit of making it to the Olympics in Tokyo Japan slated for next month.
This was after several members of the team tested positive for the deadly covid 19 flu in the World Rugby Sevens Olympic Games Repechage tournament. The positive tests were determined on arrival of the team in Monaco.
The tournament was slated to run from June 18-20 at the State Louis II stadium in Monaco France.
This means that all games which were to involve Uganda will be awarded as a bye to the teams the rugby cranes were supposed to play against. A bye means the teams will forego the games as if they won them.
Uganda’s opponents included France, Chile, Hong Kong and Jamaica who were in pool B.
The Uganda Rugby Union went ahead to say that this was a devastating moment for the team owing to the effort they had put in to get there.
They however requested prayers from fans so that the affected members can recover quickly before thanking all the stakeholders.
“While this is devastating given all the effort put into preparation please spare a thought for the team especially those who are not well. We wish them a speedy and full recovery and a safe journey back home. Good luck to all the rest of the teams. We thank all the players & mgt, Rugby Africa,World Rugby, UOC, NCS and all our sponsors & stakeholders for all your efforts & sacrifice to get us this far &will dedicate all further efforts to ensure the recovery & safe return of our team.” The statement further read.
The repechage tournament is one where teams that failed to make it to the Olympics directly compete in order to get into the finals.
And after the Olympics being postponed from last year to this year, players are really disappointed. This is because the Olympics take a period of four years to happen again.