10th All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique-Georges selected as cycling technical delegate |23 August 2011

Georges is expected to leave for Mozambique on September 4 for the Games which will run from September 3-18.

The former rider will act as a Confederation of African Cycling (Cac) technical delegate on the Union Cycliste International (UCI) team also comprising UCI president Pat McQuaid and UCI technical delegate Jean-Pierre Van Zyl.

The race commissaires chosen for the Games are Crag Crother (South Africa), Jean-François Camoin (Mauritius), Abdul-Aziz al-Awamri (Algeria), Ahmed Zemni (Tunisia), Joao Dacs Francisco Francisco (Angola) and Mohammed Shaaban (Ghana).

The Cac delegation will include Dr Wagih Azza (president), Julius Mwangi (vice-president), Expendito Chipalo (secretary general), Die Kacou (member) and Mohamed Salah (Cac manager).

This is only the third time the Games are being held in the southern part of the continent after Harare, Zimbabwe, in 1995 and Johannesburg, South Africa in 1999.

The official opening of the 10th All-Africa Games will take place at the new 42,000-seat stadium built by the Chinese in the suburb of Zimpeto in Maputo on September 3.

Lusaka, Zambia, was initially granted the right in April 2005 to host the 10th All-Africa Games, but it withdrew its offer due to lack of funds.

Organised every four years by the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca), the multi-sports event is reserved exclusively for athletes on the African continent.
The first Games took place in 1965 in Brazzaville, Congo, and have official recognition from the International Olympic Committee.

This year’s Games will include 22 sports disciplines (two of which will also feature disabled events –athletics and swimming)

The sports disciplines at these Games are athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, chess, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, judo, karate, netball, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and volleyball.

At least 20,000 athletes and officials are expected to take part in the Games and the organising committee (Coja) is building a Games Village totalling 848 apartments. The village will comprise 106 buildings, two Olympic swimming pools and tennis courts on an area of 17 hectares in Zimpeto.

G. G.