Morocco has confirmed the host cities for the 12th edition of the African Games. The competition will hold from 19-31 August and facilities in the cities of Rabat, Casablanca and El Jadida will stage the 28 events to be competed in. Rabat will host the opening and closing ceremonies while the other two cities will host many events from the various disciplines.
A Moroccan delegation led by Ghizalane Senhaji and El Boyoudi Mustapha revealed this to delegates during the sixth International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Africa Congress in Accra. According to Senhaji, “We want the Games to be the best ever organised and to bring the experience closer to everyone. Approval has been given for the use of the three cities and both athletes and visitors will thoroughly enjoy these three selected cities which are also very rich in Moroccan history.”
She also confirmed that for the first time, the Games will be used as qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 19 disciplines.
Morocco will return to the Games for the first time in thirty years after its last participation in 1978 when it was staged in the Algerian capital Algiers. This follows the country’s readmission into the African Union. Morocco left its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, in 1984 after the body recognised the independence of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara.