ANOCA gets nod to take over All African Games
The Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), has been given the nod to organize the 11th edition of the All Africa Games (AAG) in Congo in 2015.
The decision follows arrived at by the African Union Member States Ministerial meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last week, which saw the dissolution of the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA) a body that has supervised the organization of the past ten events on the continent.
Information gathered by GNA Sports from the meeting, reveals that ANOCA would henceforth supervise the organization of the event, whilst the Association of African Sports Confederations (AASC) would handle the technical aspects of the event in 2015.
In view of the latest trend, ANOCA and SCSA are expected to formally sign the agreement transferring the organization of the Games from the Council to ANOCA as the continent moves towards revamping its Olympics goal in January 2012.
General Lassanna Palenfo, President of ANOCA was delighted at the new development saying, “top on his agenda would be to have Africa’s top talents parade in Brazzaville, Congo to make it an elite event.
“As it is the case in other continents, we are looking at the possibilities of having the All African Games serve as an Olympic qualifying event which would ensure the participation of high-level athletes.”
General Palenfo added that his outfit would also market the ‘African Olympics’ to the corporate world to enable them attract the needed sponsorship, which could translate into plum prize money for the medalists.
SCSA had in the last 40 years supervised the organization of the All Africa Games amidst several organizational challenges, with the just ended event Maputo, Mozambique as a case in hand.
The 2011 AAG event was characterized by lack of facilities for events like Weightlifting and Hockey, in addition to delays in processing accreditation for sports men and women, among other challenges.
The change of structure would therefore also provide an equal platform for all African countries to participate as they would be spared the trouble of paying for participating, since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to provide funding for the organization of the event and infrastructure.
Source: GNA