TZ to field runners, judokas in All Africa Games

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will be represented by runners and Judokas in the 12th edition of the All Africa Games (AAG) scheduled to begin on August 19 to 31, this year, in Rabat, Morocco.

Speaking with The Citizen yesterday, National Sports Council (NSC) Secretary General Alex Mkenyenge said the two sports have the qualified athletes who, they think, will represent well the country in the event to feature other 23 sports.

Mkenyenge said runners and judokas are in top form after they recently competed in East African competitions and did well. He explained that amateur boxers have been excluded from the Tanzania’s squad following the suspension of the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to due to a litany of corruption scandals in recent years.

According to Mkenyenge, it may come as a surprise to hear that boxing will be on the brink of excluding itself from the Olympics as a political battle threatens to see the sport removed from Tokyo 2020. “After verifying the performances of the various sports, we have decided to select two sports. Judokas competed in the East Africa events held in Kibaha and athletes who won gold medals are likely to form the national squad.

“Runners have been active annually and there are many who can compete in the competition. Our target is to send competitors and not participants,” said Mkenyenge. He said athletes who have won gold medals only are required to be given the first priority in the selection. “If the number of the athletes who won gold medals is not enough, the second consideration is for those who have won silver and later bronze. “Our aim is to select competitive athletes for the Games and who can make the country proud,” he said.

Mkenyenge also urged sports bodies to select capable athletes ahead of the Games. “We are not ready to send athletes, who do not meet the qualification merits as the government is not ready to waste its monies for that. We urge the two association leaders to follow the instructions,” he said.

AAG are a regional multi-sport event held every four years (one year before the Olympic Games).

The competing nations to the AAG must all be from the African continent and be affiliated to the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA).

Furthermore, the athletes must meet the eligible criteria set by the International Federations to participate in the AAG.