Rwanda can’t afford 2011 All Africa Games

Rwanda will not come in to rescue the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA) in hosting the 2011 All Africa Games after scheduled host Zambia pulled out last year. Times Sports inquired from Sports and Culture Ministry whether Rwanda was interested in hosting the continental multi-sporting event in 2011 after hosting a successful African Youth Championship last month. Without thinking to much for the answer, Minister Joseph Habineza said that Rwanda cannot find the required budget to host the event. “Hosting the All Africa Games is far more expensive than the African Youth Championships. “We therefore can’t be able to get the funds to organize the All Africa Games. It would require extra resources and ability to host such an event,” Habineza said, adding that the country will only host the 2011 U-17 African Youth Championship as they have already secured the hosting rights. The two-year period that a new host has before the start of the Pan African Games is too soon for the Rwandan Government in staging the games due to the magnitude of investment involved that could be run to billions of francs. The event would mean overhauling Rwanda’s facilities, building new venues, infrastructural improvement and upgrading of hotels and road network. With the withdrawal, Zambia’s record and credibility in pan-African sport took a further dip. This is the second time that the country has successfully bid for a continental sports event but failed to host. Zambia won the bid to host the 1988 African Cup of Nations only to withdraw. Morocco stepped in to host the tournament. Zambia’s withdrawal from the event shook the continent, as 8000 athletes from the projected 52 countries had already been assured venues where the 26 sports would be held between July 15 and 27, 2011. The All Africa Games have been held in Southern Africa before Harare in 1995 and in Johannesburg in 1999 but South Africa’s 2010 agenda might not give them much time to re-prepare for 2011, while Zimbabwe is crippled by an ailing economy. At the 2007 Games in Algiers, Rwanda returned home with no medal. The least they could earn was Dieudonne Disi finishing fourth in the half marathon. Ends

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Rwanda can’t afford 2011 All Africa Games