Ewan Scott - file

Ewan Scott, manager of Jamaica's team to the IAAF World Youth Championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, has sought to assure that the team will get to the European country in time for a pre-championships camp, despite visa issues that have affected its departure.

The team, which consists of 26 athletes and 10 officials was set to depart the island in two groups, with the first scheduled to leave yesterday and the second, tomorrow.

However, visa-processing delays and difficulties securing flight, have left the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association scrambling to get the team to the camp, which is being facilitated by the IAAF and is set to start July 4, ahead of the July 10-14 championships.

final destination

Athletes will be processed for visas upon arrival in Ukraine, but clearance is also needed from the British Consulate, as the team will be flying through England en route to their final destination.

"All the visas were not processed in time, so by tomorrow (today), we should get back all the documents and everything should be in place," Scott told STAR Sports.

"It's just a little bump but everything is in control," Scott added. "Nothing has changed, we should still get there on time."

"Because of unavailability of fights; because most of the flights are full, we were split into two groups, with some set to leave today and another set on Wednesday, but we are now trying to get everyone on that same flight for Wednesday," he added before underlining the importance of the camp.

"The camp is really an opportunity to acclimatise and also to work out any kinks, so we realise that it's a grand opportunity and we should be there in time to fully make use of that," he said.

The athletes, who are all being housed in Kingston, are said to be in good spirits despite the setback.

"We spoke to them (athletes), some persons were a bit disappointed to not leave today (yesterday), but we spoke and everyone is fine and we will use the opportunity to get some training in while we are here," said Scott.

Jamaica won nine medals; four gold, one silver and one bronze at the last championships in Lille, France, in 2011.