Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) |11 August 2023

The national team with PS Jean-Louis (long sleeves centre) and other officials (Photo: Contributed)

National football team leave on IOIG journey

The Seychelles men’s senior national football team left this morning for Mauritius on the first leg of their 2023 Indian Ocean Islands Games journey.

They will stay in Mauritius on a 10-day training camp before flying to Madagascar to join the rest of the Seychelles delegation for the 11th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) to be held from August 25 to September 3 in Antananarivo.

As the team will not be around for the national going-away ceremony scheduled for August 17, a top official from the sports ministry and heads of the official delegation for Madagascar came to see them off at the airport this morning.

These were the principal secretary for youth and sports Ralph Jean-Louis, head of the men’s delegation Philip Moustache and the chef de mission Bernard Denis.

The training camp in Mauritius will involve three test matches against regional selections and a youth team from the Liverpool Football Academy based at the Côte d’Or Sports Complex. Seychelles will not play against the Mauritian national team in Mauritius.

For the IOIG Seychelles have been drawn in group A alongside Mauritius and Madagascar. A victory will be sufficient to see them through to the semifinals. Group B features Reunion, Mayotte and Comoros.

The decision to organise the training camp in Mauritius was made well before the draw. The SFF gave the national team two training camp options, Morocco or Mauritius and they chose the latter taking into consideration the financial implication, acclimatisation and accessibility.

It is much easier and less of a strain on the players to get from Mauritius to Madagascar on the eve of the start of the games and also easier to acclimatise as the weather in Mauritius is more or less around the same as that of Madagascar around this time of year.

Asked to give his impression on the draw before the team’s departure, national team coach Vivian Both said, “a draw is a draw, it is not necessarily favourable for us but we have to respect and accept it. We must be ready to play against any team”.

He continued: “We know a bit more about Mauritius and Madagascar than the three in the other group and this could play to our advantage at group stage.”

Coach Both said that no matter the draw the delegation’s mission remained the same, and that is to win a medal for Seychelles, with target on the gold.

The men’s football tournament during the past 10 editions of the IOIG has been dominated by Reunion with five gold medals. Mauritius have won two, Madagascar two and Seychelles one. Seychelles gold medal was won on home soil in 2011 when the country achieved its best IOIG result ever, finishing second on the medals table, one gold medal behind Reunion.

The aim is to bring Seychelles on par with Mauritius and Madagascar in terms of the number of gold medals won in football. Seychelles have also won a silver and two bronze medals over the past ten editions of the games.

The delegation is as follows:

Goalkeepers

Jean-Paul Lesperance, Alvin Michel, Romeo Padayachy.

Defenders

Julio Brown, Daryl Louis, Michael Mancienne, Don Fanchette, Benoit Marie, Warren Mellie, Juninho Mathiot, Dean Balette, Brandon Molle, Ramlee Pascal.

Midfielders

Dean Mothe, Colin Bibi, Neil Confiance, Kenner Nourrice, Thiery Camille, Ryan Henriette, Gerick Vidot.

Strikers

Josip Ravignia, Brandon Labrosse, Hubert Jean.

Officials

Michael Delpech (team manager), Vivian Both (head coach), Bruno Saindina (assistant coach), Gerard Gonthier (assistant coach), Andrew Michel (physiotherapist).

Contributed