Nigeria aiming to host Covid-19 safe African Championships

Nigeria aiming for problem-free African champs hosting

JOHANNESBURG, June 1 (ANA) – Last week the African Championship athletics event was moved from Algeria to Nigeria due to Covid-19 safety concerns, but whether the West African nation will host the competition without any hitches remains to be seen.

Algeria’s active Covid-19 cases have slowly increased since they breached the 10 000 mark in August last year. The active cases in Algeria currently sit at 35 602, and with no drop in numbers organisers had to make the decision to move the championship.

Originally scheduled for the first week of June in Algeria, the African Championships will now take place from June 23 to 27, at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

Nigeria is currently seeing a sharp drop in numbers after a second wave of active Covid-19 cases peaked at 25 267 on January 30. The active cases now stand at 5 638.

However, with the influx of athletes from all over the continent – the health protocols in place in Surulere, in Lagos, will come under close scrutiny.

Extra pressure will also fall on the event to limit any Covid-19 outbreaks, as it will provide the last chance for many African athletes to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8. Any athletes who contract the virus will therefore be placed in a battle to recover in time for the Olympics as a result.

Kenya was due to host the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in Nairobi in July. However, World Athletics was forced to postpone the event back in March.

The travelling to the East African country would be problematic with all the nations involved due to Covid-19, World Athletics said.

While this event pales in comparison to a spectacle like the Tokyo Olympics, it shows that even in much smaller numbers – African countries will have little faith shown in them during the pandemic.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. In 2021 alone, Cameroon successfully hosted the African Nations Championship (Chan) soccer tournament in January and February. Though some sides reported Covid-19 outbreaks within their squads, the players were swiftly removed from the tournament and the vast majority of players were able to carry on without any problems.

Kigali in Rwanda, this week welcomes the start of the long-awaited Basketball Africa League which was first due to be held last year, but was postponed due to the pandemic.

As it stands, there is the infrastructure in countries like South Africa, Kenya, Cameroon and even Egypt to host major sporting events. – African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Michael Sherman