The 22nd Africa senior championships have been cancelled by the Confederation of African Athletics for lack of host country.
« It is with regret that I announce the cancellation of the Africa senior championships which were planned to take place in Lagos from June 23 to 27, 2021. Indeed, after the Algeria’s desire to postpone the championships, and realizing the need to offer competition to our athletes, the Confederation decided to find a host country so as to save the championships. Unfortunately, Nigeria, which committed to host the competition has just informed CAA that the Scientific Commission had not allowed to host such a big competition.»
Through this circular letter, the CAA expressed its regret for this new hard blow to African athletics. President Kalkaba and his main collaborators did everything to save the competition and provide opportunities for athletes looking for qualification to the Tokyo Olympics. It was also the main concern of Nigeria whose Minister of Youth and Sport, Sunday Dare, had confirmed, on May 24 in Cairo and following his meeting with the CAA president that the Championships were going to take place in Lagos. However, the health situation in the country has not improved, which certainly urged the Nigerian authorities to review their decision.
Minister Sunday Dare also praised the CAA's confidence in Nigeria's potential as a country to host a major sporting event, even on a particularly short notice. But, correspondences and meetings with competent government institutions and particularly with the Presidential scientific Committee (PSC) on COVID-19 have revealed serious health risks relating to the organization of the African Championships in Lagos, due to emerging data on COVID-19 infection in Nigeria. Faced with this new situation, Nigeria was no longer able to host the CAA African Championships scheduled for June 23-28, 2021 in Lagos.
Despite this blow of fate, the Confederation of African Athletics will continue its policy of diversifying its competitions which now covers all parts of the continent. The organization of the main African events is no longer the exclusive prerogative of major athletics countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, etc, but “small athletics countries” if they may be called so, intend to play their part by taking up the challenge. There is no doubt that this vision will expand to other horizons to the delight of African athletics.
