The Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) has announced plans to start an annual one day Africa tour meeting, which is similar to the IAAF Diamond League, in order to provide more competition for the continent’s athletes.
This follows a successful test run that was held in Asaba, Nigeria this month, where athletes from seven countries participated in the run up to the Asaba 2018 African Senior Championships, which starts on Wednesday in Asaba, Nigeria.
Currently, only Rabat in Morocco has one leg of the 14-tier IAAF Diamond League. The African Tour Meet will seek to have the best African talent on show.
The trial event, which was staged in Asaba, Nigeria, was organized by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the 21st African Senior Athletics Championship.
In a statement, CAA President Hamad Malboum Kalkaba said the African Tour will help expose African talent.
Listen to the Full Press Conference in Asaba
Mozambique, Togo, Ghana, Uganda and Senegal participated in the one day meet. The test competition served as a dress rehearsal for the Asaba 2018 Athletics championships.
“We are ready to show the world a glimpse of what they should expect at this year’s African Championships,” said Yussuf Alli, Technical Director for Asaba 2018.
Alli, a two time African Long jump champion added that the Tour Meet is also meant to test run the facilities in place as well as evaluate the personnel that would man them during the African championships.
Meanwhile, after Rabat 2010, Gaborone 2014 and Algiers 2018, the fourth edition of the Africa Youth Games will take place in Maseru, Lesotho in 2022.
The games, which are reserved for athletes under 18-years-old serves as the qualifiers for the Youth Olympic Games.
This year the top athletes qualified for the Youth Olympics, which will be held in Buenos Aires from Oct. 6-18. About 3,000 boys and girls aged 14 to 18 from 54 countries and regions competed in 30 disciplines.
