Rwanda gets nod to host African championships

RWANDA’s bid to host the 2013 African Junior Athletics championships was approved by the IAAF during the African Athletics Confederation (CAA) assembly held in Benin at the weekend. However, the final endorsement is still pending a verification visit by a technical committee from IAAF and CAA. The technical team will come for inspection after the London Olympic Games. Speaking to Times Sport yesterday, Johnson Rukundo said the country’s bid had been approved though a mandatory inspection team still needs to very what the Rwandan delegation presented.“We had a solid bid which has been approved but there is a mandatory inspection to verify what we presented,” Rukundo said. Rwanda was the sole bidder to host the event.Rwanda Athletics Federation president Jean Damascene Nkezabo and the Director of Sports Federations in the Ministry of Sports, Emmanuel Bugingo presented the country’s bid during the ongoing African Senior Athletics Championships in Porto Novo.Some of the requirements needed to host the event include, having the financial backing of government; hotels, stadia, security and communication systems, training areas among others. It will not be the first time Rwanda hosts a continental athletics competition and it would mark a big milestone in the chaotic national athletics federation which has been a beehive of embezzlement of funds, wrangling and poor leadership for the last couple of years.Rwanda’s ability to host big sporting competitions is in no doubt after successfully hosting the 2009 U-20 and 2011 U-17 African junior soccer championships, Afro-Basketball championships, cycling events and other tournaments in volleyball and handball.