Nigeria named new host for Africa Senior Championships

The 22nd edition of the African Senior Athletics Championships initially scheduled to take place in Algiers on June 22-26 will now be held in Lagos, Nigeria on June 23-27.

The biennial event has been postponed twice by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) owing to the prevailing situation of Covid-19 in the North African country.

In a joint statement released Tuesday by Nigeria’s Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the Confederation of African Athletics, the event will be held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos.

The event is set to provide African athletes with a final opportunity to qualify for the Summer Olympics set for July 23-August 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

”Following the meeting between the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development of Nigeria, Sunday Dare and the President of the Confederation of African Athletics, Kalkaba Malboum, in Cairo on 24 May, 2021, issues relating to the hosting of the 22nd African Athletics Championships in Nigeria, were fully deliberated upon and modalities for a successful hosting of the Championships were carefully mapped out,” read the statement.

It continued. “The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the Confederation of African Athletics, are fully committed and working in synergy towards the delivery of a world-class Championships at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, with auxiliary support to be provided at the National Stadium, Surulere and the Yaba College of Technology, Yaba, both in Lagos.”

This will be the third time Nigeria will be hosting the Championship after Lagos (1989) and Asaba (2018).