Coronavirus: sporting events in Africa canceled or threatened

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

The kick-off of the Basketball Africa League postponed, the Rabat Grand Prix of judo and the Cycling Tour of Morocco canceled ... The spread of the Coronavirus in Africa begins to affect and threaten the organization of major sporting events in the continent.

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The launch of the all-new Pan-African basketball league ( Basketball Africa League ) will not take place, as planned, on March 13, 2020 in Dakar. The North American League (NBA) which co-organizes the Basketball Africa League (BAL) has announced its postponement because of the first case of Coronavirus detected in Senegal. The same day that the NBA Africa was to reveal the last details of the calendar of the 2020 season of the BAL…

Competitions canceled in Morocco

On March 3, 2020, the spread of the virus in some African countries began to suppress certain events, notably in Morocco. Local authorities have thus decided to cancel the Rabat Grand Prix of judo as well as the Tour of Morocco cycling.

It is not really a surprise. In 2014, the Cherifian Kingdom had already applied a somewhat similar precautionary principle, with Ebola. He had notably refused to organize the 2015 African Cup of Nations for football on the scheduled dates to avoid any risk of the virus arriving on its territory. CAN 2015 was then reassigned to Equatorial Guinea .

Expectant organizers

In recent days, faced with the few cases identified in six African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia), the organizers of International competitions contacted by RFI.fr have been cautious. The International Karate Federation wanted to maintain the Rabat tournament (Karate 1-Premier League) scheduled from March 13 to 15. And the International Tennis Federation had not planned to prevent the play-offs of the men's world cup by teams (Davis Cup) from taking place in Marrakech (Morocco-Vietnam) or that African selections do not travel to the 'foreigner (Latvia-Egypt, Guatemala-Tunisia, etc.) on March 6 and 7.

Confident African Confederations

Faced with the threat, some African confederations say they are calm. That of handball (CAHB) thus keeps confidence in Algeria to host the African Super Cup (March 30) as well as the African Championship of the women cup winning clubs (March 31-April 9). That of volleyball (CAVB), she wants the African Women's Club Championship to be held as planned, in Cairo from April 3 to 10.

The largest of them, the African Football Confederation (CAF) is also vigilant without however dramatizing. CAF vice-president Constant Omari spoke on the subject in Kinshasa on the sidelines of a meeting on the development program of the International Football Federation, FIFA Forward. " Of course, we are thinking about this situation ," replied the Congolese. But Africa is not yet too struck by the Coronavirus. In terms of prevention, CAF is currently reflecting on the measures to be adopted. This will be proportional to the extent of the spread. A week ago, Africa was almost free from it. We are just beginning to identify cases ”.

Football, a special case ?

Many round ball competitions, involving countries affected by COVID-19, are planned over the next few days: quarter-finals of the African club cups (March 6 to 8), African Cup of Nations qualifiers 2021 (March 25-31)…

For the time being, no postponement or cancellation seems to be on the agenda. One month before the kick off of the African Nations Championship ( CHAN 2020 ), which will take place in Cameroon from April 4 to 25, caution remains essential within the African Football Confederation. “ The President sought the opinion of the CAF medical team, particularly with a view to CHAN 2020 , according to a statement sent by an Ahmad advisor to rfi.fr. CAF is particularly attentive to the situation and ready to take the necessary measures ”.

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