The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has announced the participating national football teams for the soccer events at the much-anticipated African Games in Accra in March.
In the men’s category, the Executive Committee of CAF has identified the eight quarterfinalists from the TotalEnergies U-20 2023 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt as qualified teams for the continental showpiece alongside the host nation Ghana. The seeded men’s national teams include Benin, Congo, Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Sudan, Tunisia, and Uganda. The same age category applied during the TotalEnergies U-20 AFCON will be adopted.
In the women’s section, the participating teams from the fourth qualifying rounds of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Costa Rica 2022 will gain qualification slots in the final tournament of the African Games Accra 2023. The qualified women’s teams include the host nation Ghana, along with Cameroon, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda.
West African countries Burkina Faso and Nigeria claimed gold medals in the men’s and women’s events, respectively, at the last edition of the continental multisport event held in 2019 in Rabat, Morocco.
The 13th edition of the African Games will take place from 8-24 March 2024 in Accra at the University of Ghana sports stadium and the Borteyman sports complex.
The 2023 African Games, initially slated for 4th to 19th August last year, were postponed to this year, 2024, following an agreement between the competition’s major stakeholders. The 100-day countdown to the 13th edition of the games on Wednesday, 29th November 2023, began with an inspection of the under-construction facilities at the Borteyman Sports Complex and the University of Ghana Stadium, with Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Sports Minister Mustapha Ussif.
Speaking at the launch at the quadrangle of the games village, the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Bawumia, claimed, “Ghana is now ready, willing, and capable of organizing and hosting Africa in the biggest sporting competition on the continent.” He added, “The African Games are seen as a major avenue to highlight sports as a means to create jobs for the youth of Africa. The games also offer the opportunity to leverage sports as a tool for comprehensive sustainable socio-cultural and economic development.”
Ghana will host the games for the first time in March 2024 with 54 countries and 30 sporting disciplines, 8 of which will be qualifiers for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Pius Asack|Ghana
