Top officials of the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) will arrive in Asaba, Delta state of Nigeria this weekend to inspect and evaluate the facilities being put in place to host the 21st African Senior Athletics Championships.
Those expected in Asaba for the fact-finding mission include Lamine Faty – Chief Executive Officer of the African Athletics body as well as Vivian Gungaram, who is the Technical Director of the CAA and member of the IAAF Technical Commission.
In a statement issued by Olukayode Thomas, Head of Media and Publicity for Asaba 2018, he said the CAA officials are coming to town to have first-hand information, progress reports and generally see how prepared Delta State is to host the rest of the African continent.
“Yes, the CAA officials will be coming in this weekend to see the level of work that has been done, they will be going around and also have meetings with top Delta State officials.” He said.
Thomas revealed that the CAA delegation will be officially welcomed to Nigeria by the Local Organising Committee, LOC Chairman, Solomon Ogba who has assured that all the world-class facilities meant for the African championships will be on the ground way before the deadline given.
The Delta State government is leaving no stone unturned as they look forward to putting together the best African Senior Athletics Championships ever.
Already over 25 countries have registered almost 1,000 athletes for Asaba 2018 and many more entries are still being expected.
Aside the large number of athletes, the quality of the already registered athletes indicates Asaba 2018 will become a record breaker in terms of performances.
South Africa are the defending champions – having won the last two editions hosted in Marrakech, Morocco in 2014 and Durban, South Africa in 2016.
The Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, Delta State, will host the CAA Asaba 2018 African Senior Athletics Championships from August 1-5.
Meet The Authors
Mr Eludini is a Nigerian-based journalist and news researcher with a passion for athletics and football. Tunde is a staff reporter for Premium Times newspaper, and also a regular contributor to AthleticsAfrica.