A four member inspection team from the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), are in Nigeria for the inspection of facilities for the forthcoming Africa U-18 and U-20 Athletics Championship scheduled to hold in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, South West, Nigeria.
The delegates from CAA started arriving the country on Wednesday and the last officials landed in Nigeria on Thursday.
The delegates will inspect the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta as well as the hotels and medical facilities ear marked to be use by athletes and officials.
The President of the AthIetics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Tonobok Okowa stated that the inspection team will also attend the opening ceremony of the 22nd National Sports Festival before leaving the country.
Okowa, a Vice President of the Confederation of African Athletics further explained that he exempted himself from the Local Organizing Committee of the third African Youth Athletics Championship because of the multipurpose roles he will be playing during the event.
“First and foremost, I’m an executive member of CAA as well as the leader of Team Nigeria to the competition and you know CAA’s are the owners of the competition so it not possible for me serve in the LOC again as my roles in CAA are demanding and crucial to the success of the championship.”
The former Chairman of Delta State Sports Commission revealed that he personally nominated all the AFN board members on the LOC announced two days ago.
“All the AFN members on the list were submitted by me and if you do not see any board member on the Local Organizing Committee, it is because they’re playing a key role in Team Nigeria preparations and build up for a successful outing at the Championship.”
It’s noteworthy to mention that during the 2018 Senior Africa Athletics Championship held in Asaba, Delta State, South South, Nigeria, the former President of the AFN, Ibrahim Shehu Gusau was not in the Local Organizing Committee of the competition as he was managing Team Nigeria.
Abeokuta, Nigeria was selected as the new host city for the 3rd edition of the CAA African U18/U20 Combined Championships from 16-20 July, 2025.
The biennial junior athletics championship is expected to draw more than 500 young competitors from the continent to the West African nation.
Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) stated that the Council, Congress, and 3rd CAA African U18/U20 Combined Championships, scheduled to take place in Oran, Algeria, “will no longer take place in that country for various reasons”.
“In agreement with Nigeria, these events will now be held in Abeokuta City, Ogun State. The originally scheduled dates remain unchanged, with a slight adjustment to the dates,” CAA said.
CAA had initially awarded the hosting rights to the 2025 CAA African U18/U20 Combined Championships to Madagascar – during the CAA Council Meeting held at the Krystal Palace hotel in Douala, Cameroon on Thursday June 20, 2024 – before moving it to Oran, Algeria in early 2025.