RABAT, September 10, 2019 - For more than eight years, Libya has been living with a war that is destroying much of the country's infrastructure and institutions. But that has not stopped some athletes from continuing to work hard and feature in competitions like the African Games Rabat 2019.

Only 27 Libyan athletes took part in the African Games. A delegation weakened, overwhelmed by the war and politics in Libya, which explains the country's reduced presence at the event.

Declining to reveal his name and politely asking reporters not to mention his sport for fear of retribution upon his return to Tripoli, the Libyan capital, a young Libyan athlete stated, "the situation of sport in Libya is very delicate, there's a huge lack of financial support, and with that, a big gap between the sponsorship of football and other sports, especially individual sports".

It is a situation where discussion remains a taboo. The only thing that can explain this is corruption within those institutions already exhausted by the war and the crisis. And the powerful people in Libya have no interest in a debate about sports corruption.

The war in Libya has destroyed several major cities including Benghazi, Misrata and Sabrata, so the capital Tripoli is now the only destination for the Libyan athletes to prepare for their competitions. The great distance between these cities and their safety when travelling makes it remarkably difficult for a large number of talented athletes to practice their sports in respectable conditions worthy of African Games participants.

Several sports, like fencing or archery, have only one club in the entire Libyan territory where they can practice, and it's no surprise these clubs are Tripoli-based. It's a critical situation, according to the anonymous athlete, but to talk about it remains a taboo in Libya, since athletes are threatened with harsh retribution if they publicly reveals this.

Libya is a war-torn country that keeps trying to catch a small breath of progress, something that could have been done by sports, especially through the country's participation at the African Games. But only if Libyan sports leaders had known how to promote this sector through taking part in the Games, something they failed to do.