Charles Osei Asibey
President of the Association of African Sports Confederation (UCSA), Ahmed Nasser, and Assen Hadjitodorov, President of World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) have thrown their weight behind armwrestling as part of the 25 disciplines selected for the 2023 African Games in Ghana.
The leadership of the World Armwrestling Federation and the Association of Africa Sports Confederations in separate statements during a joint meeting in Cairo, Egypt acknowledged the speed and development of armwrestling in Africa as the reason for a consideration for Africa to play and experience the ever popular and traditional sport.
Speaking at the meeting, Ahmed Nasser said there had been consultations with Mustapha Ussif, Minister of Youth and Sports, the Local Organising Committee and Charles Osei Asibey, President of Armwrestling Federation of Africa (AFA) to register the sport in the 13th African Games.
“I think you are going to have the support from the Local Organising Committee, the African Union (AU) has no problem so we will still be waiting for the Association of African Olympic Committee (ANOCA), so at the end of the day you have a good chance to be in the game,” he added.
He thanked the presidents of WAF and AFA for their continuous support in making Africa a hub of sports, and urged them to speed up processes in registering the sport as part of the 25 sporting disciplines.
The President of the World Armwrestling Federation stated that it was on a mission to make armwrestling one of the leading sports on the world stage, with the help of UCSA, ANOCA, AU, AFA and other federations.
Charles Osei Asibey, President of Armwrestling Federation of Africa and Ghana Armwrestling Federation (GAF) also noted that the African countries are interested in the sport, therefore the need to champion this agenda of including it in the continental competition.
He said AFA, in collaboration with the World Armwrestling body and the Local Organising Committee of the Africa Games were putting things in place to help host the continental championship, which will serve as the qualifier for the Africa Games.
The GAF President said about 180 athletes were expected to participate in the armwrestling category of the 13th Africa Games next year. Present at the meeting were Ahmed Nasser, President of the Association of African Sports Confederation (UCSA); Assen Hadjitodorov, President of World Armwrestling Federation (WAF); Mircea Simeonescu, Secretary General of the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF); Julien Boumsong, Secretary General of the Armwrestling Federation of Africa (AFA); Pharm. Kofi Addo-Agyekum, Vice President, Armwrestling Federation of Africa (AFA).
The African Games has been scheduled for March 8 to 23, 2024.
From The Sports Desk