Mustapha Berraf: "Satisfied with the results" of Africa in Tokyo 2021
Algerian Mustapha Berraf, president of the Association of African National Olympic Committees (Acnoa).
Getty Images for ANOC - Mark Runnacles
Text by: Christophe Diremszian
5 mins
All the African countries present at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games won 37 medals, 11 of which were gold.
For the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ANOCA), Mustapha Berraf this assessment partly below that Rio 2016 is relative, because of the crisis Covid 19. "
Athletes n 'have not been able to prepare properly
,' said the Algerian in particular.
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RFI: Mustapha Berraf, what impressions do you have with the organization of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games, as the boss of the African sports movement?
Mustapha Berraf:
I feel great satisfaction and great relief.
These Games had been postponed and they involved quite a few concerns.
But, thank goodness, we have risen to the challenge.
It was, however, an exceptional challenge, taken up thanks to the will of the Organizing Committee, that of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and more particularly of the IOC President, Mr. Thomas Bach.
We managed, as he has said so often, to find the way out of the tunnel and see hope for humanity.
For me and for all the Africans who supported this process, it is a great relief.
From a health point of view, do you think the results of the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games are good?
I find the results very positive.
As you know, we Africans are fatalistic people.
But we attach great importance to the hope and the will to achieve great things.
However, it was something exceptional.
I can tell you that the rigor in terms of sanitary conditions, rules and operation during these Games were a very high example in terms of scientific modernity.
Africa as a whole collects 37 medals. This is less than in 2016 (45 medals). How do you view this record?
There have been both positive and negative things.
If we compare to 2016, we had a little less medals.
But there were these exceptional living conditions in Africa, with the borders being almost completely closed for several months.
A period during which the athletes could not prepare properly.
They experienced a lot of difficulties and had problems of several kinds.
If we consider all these issues, we are satisfied with the result.
There are almost ten athletes who obtained a medal and to whom we had provided financial and technical support.
I am very happy with the success of the athletes who were placed under the ANOCA hat.
Athletes from East Africa, North Africa and Southern Africa won the bulk of the medals. Are efforts to support athletes from West and Central Africa still insufficient or inadequate?
The means made available to these athletes, compared to those available to professional or European athletes, oblige us to restraint and to respect them. They were able to participate in these Olympics because they managed to qualify for these Olympics. This is already a feat. These young people, we must give them a chance and provide them with help. We are in the process of examining and evaluating how to give them more support. A commission is working on these aspects. It is headed by Colonel Major Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, who is the vice-president of the International Athletics Federation and vice-president of the African Athletics Confederation. […]
We plan to create four regional centers, in particular in order to limit the migration of certain athletes who take the risk of settling on other continents.
It is sad.
Because, instead of coming home and training new athletes and new hopes, they stay abroad.
You have had discussions with the organizers of the 2023 African Games, scheduled for Ghana. You were worried about the progress of the organization a few months ago. Did you receive any guarantees and were you reassured about the progress of the preparations?
We have had, I will not hide it from you, certain concerns in the past.
It is clear that Ghana, organizer of the next African Games, had some difficulties, particularly of an organizational nature and especially concerning the acquisition of equipment.
We had four very serious meetings with the Minister of Youth and Sports and the National Olympic Committee of Ghana.
They made it possible to glimpse better prospects.
We are committed to providing them with the help of all our partners, particularly in terms of sports equipment and equipment.
[…] Today, we are in the process of making successful Games of good quality.
This suggests a lot of hope.
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