This archive report was first published on 19 October 2019.
On October 19, 2019, the Kenya Rugby Union's Safari Sevens tournament kicked off, but it was marred by chaos and inefficiency, particularly for the media.
Despite being 23 years since the inception of the Safari Sevens, the Kenya Rugby Union still failed to provide a functional press centre for local and international media covering the tournament.
The media were left to set up their equipment in an empty container that was supposed to be converted into a press centre, but it lacked electricity and the electronic scoreboard was not functioning.
Entry to the event was also slow and chaotic, with online tickets failing to download, leaving many journalists unable to cover the opening matches despite having put in early accreditation.
Getting the results and team sheets also proved to be a challenge, further frustrating the media.
However, the rest of the areas, including the VIP and sponsors tents, were well set up.
"It shows how they really value the media," said a disgruntled local journalist. "It's very disappointing right from entry to nowhere to file our stories from."
Despite the chaos, the tournament continued with Kenya Morans and South Africa launching their quest for this year's title strongly, whipping their Pool A opponents Uganda and Burundi 24-10 and 61-0 respectively.
Western Province also started their campaign on a good note beating Russia's Narvskaya Zastava 19-17 in Pool B.
