13th African Games: Ghana to Showcase 3 Cities for the Sporting Fiesta as it Starts Friday
Accra, Ghana
Barely one month after the captivating African Cup of Nations (AFCON) held in the enchanting Ivory Coast, another West African primus inter pares destination, Ghana is ready to showcase three of her beautiful cities, just like Ivory Coast as the host of the 13th All African Games.
The second biggest sporting event in Africa was previously meant to take place in August 2023, but due to economic challenges, preparation matters, and concerns among shareholders, it was moved to 2024.
Invariably, three cities in Ghana will host the games, making it another second decentralized game in history, and the cities are Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast from 8th- 23rd March, 2024.
The Games Fact:
Event :13th African Games
Host Country : Ghana – Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast.
Opening Date: 8th March 2024
Closing Date : 23rd March 2024
Organized by: African Union Commission
Torch bearer: Benjamin Azamati
Participating Nations: 49
It should be of Interest to know that the African Games are arranged and managed by the African Union (AUC) as part of its statutory responsibilities which aim at creating a bond among member States, targeted at athletes from the African continent in order to give them a platform to showcase their talents on a continental level in collaboration with the Associations of Africa Sports Confederations (AASC) and the Association of National Olympic Committee of Africa (ANOCA).
The quadrennial event comes a year before the Olympics, as it stands as the main event for African athletes to qualify officially for the 2024 Olympics which will take place in Paris later in the year.
Socio-cultural Impact:
The event doesn’t only showcase the athletic talents of Africans, but it is another avenue to celebrate the beautiful African cultures, the great diversity, the tourism potential and serves as a platform through which unity and integration can be achieved thereby ushering lasting peace to the continent.
Logo and Mascot:
The logo and the mascot of the 13th African Games were unveiled as far back as December 2021 by the organizing committee and the Mascot is called “asɔkɔdeɛ,” which means an anthropomorphic eagle, an Akan-Twi word. And all kudos to the talented Frank Fifi Forson who designed the mascot for the event.
Other features of the logo include Athlete, African map, Ghana map, Black star, Racetrack, among others.
Opening and Closing Ceremonies:
The main venue for the event is Accra Borteyman Olympic Standard Stadium, which has the capacity of hosting 50,000 spectators and it will also host the closing ceremony.
It should however be noted that destination Ghana has invested a lot to provide better facilities across, building Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Centers in order to meet up with the international standard required of the competition.
Other venues for the event are the University of Ghana Stadium, Borteyman Sports Complex, Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium, and Achimota Oval.
The Games:
A total of 23 games will take place during the sporting fiesta, while Cricket, Arm Wrestling and Rugby are making their dubut, it should be noted that the following games will be organized in a multi-sports format: Badminton, Tennis Arm-Wrestling, Athletics, Boxing, Beach, Volleyball, Chess, Cricket, Football, Cycling, Judo, Hockey, Handball, Rugby, Karate, Taekwondo, Triathlon, Table, Tennis, Aquatics,Volleyball, Wrestling, Weightlifting and Squash.
Imperative also to note that of these 23 sports activities, Cycling, Triathlon, Badminton, Tennis, Wrestling and Table Tennis would be used as qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.
The Ghana games will also feature some demonstration games to showcase emerging talents which are: Sambo, E-sports, Mixed Martial Arts, Teqball, Scrabble, Pickleball and Speed-ball.
From all indications, destination Ghana is super prepared to host the 13th African Games and athletes numbering 4000 are expected to converge on Ghana from different parts of Africa and Beyond including uncountable sports enthusiasts.
As we say in West Africa – Akwaaba! .
additional source:bsc
