Three local businesses have lent their support to Team Seychelles for the 11^th Indian Ocean Islands Games in Madagascar, with various donations on Monday.

The three local companies - Seychelles Breweries, H Savy Insurance and Sacos Group - presented their donations to the principal secretary for sports, Ralph Jean-Louis, in a short ceremony at the headquarters of the National Sports Council (NSC) at Stad Linite.

Seychelles Breweries gave a cash donation of SCR250,000 ($18,829).

"This donation comes under the Seychelles Breweries Foundation, where one of the areas it supports is a responsible lifestyle and for us, because of that, it was important to make this contribution to the athletes," said Maryanne Ernesta, the corporate relations manager at Seychelles Breweries.

She added that they want to continue to encourage Seychellois to participate in sports activities.

H Savy Insurance made a contribution of SCR75,000 ($6,000) that will go towards the team's expenses.

"H Savy always look to support the community and so we have decided to give this donation to the athletes and we hope that they can do well and expect medals," the assistant manager of corporate affairs, Christy Hoareau.

Another insurance company, Sacos, made a donation of SCR125,000 ($9,400) in travel insurance for the whole delegation.

"We always look to give back to the community and that is why we have decided to insure the whole delegation that will represent Seychelles at the games," said Curtis Leopold, the business development manager.  

The 2023 Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) is scheduled for August 23 to September 3 in Madagascar and will feature 17 sporting disciplines.

The 17 disciplines confirmed for the games are athletics, badminton, basketball (5x5) and (3x3), men's boxing, men's cycling, men's football, weightlifting, handball, judo, karate, wrestling, swimming, petanque, rugby (7x7), tennis, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.

Seychellois athletes will compete in 16 of the 17 sporting disciplines and will not take part in wrestling, which is a sport not practiced in Seychelles.

The island nation expects to have a delegation of about 575 for the games.

The IOIG is a multi-sport event that takes place every four years for athletes from the Indian Ocean Islands.

Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion and the Maldives are the regular participants in the games. Mauritius, the previous hosts, claimed the most gold medals in the 2019 games.