ASSOCIATION DES COMITES NATIONAUX OLYMPIQUES D’AFRIQUE (A.C.N.O.A.) ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES OF AFRICA (A.N.O.C.A.) ______

50 EC 12 / 09

50TH MEETING OF THE ANOC EXECUTIVE COUNCIL , DECEMBER 8, 2009

REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES OF AFRICA

Submitted by lnt. General Lassana PALENFO President.

ADRESSE/ADDRESS: P.M.B. 645 MAITAMA ABUJA-NIGERIA TEL: (234) 98705991 (234) 94136478 FAX: (234) 94136480 Email: [email protected] 2 REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES OF AFRICA

Mr. President, Distinguished members of the Executive Council, Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

This report covers the period that has elapsed since our last Council meeting held in this same city on June 14, 2009.

During the six month intervening period, several events worthy of note marked the activities of our continental association. Foremost among these were inter alia: x 13th ordinary Assembly held in Abuja, Nigeria, host country of the ANOCA Headquarters, x Election of a new ANOCA Executive for Olympiad 2009 – 2012 headed by the incumbent President who brilliantly won a second term of office, x Election of a new Secretary General for the Association, x Laying of the foundation stone of the permanent Headquarters of ANOCA, now under construction courtesy the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, x Inaugural meeting of the new Executive Committee held last September, x 12th World Athletics Championship held in , Germany in July/August 2009, x XIIIth held in , , x Election of two new IOC members in Africa at the 121st IOC session in Copenhagen: Engr. Habu Gumel of Nigeria and Mrs. Lydia Nsekera of Burundi.

This report will focus on the following areas: I. Administration II. Institutional Meetings III. Activities in NOCs IV. Games / Competitions V. Conclusion.

I. ADMINISTRATION

With the Election of a new Secretary General at the 13th Ordinary General Assembly which was elective, the ANOCA administration is back to normalcy. The new Secretary General hit the ground running and is currently in the process of reviewing and streamlining the administration to make it performance-driven and result-oriented in the delivery of services expected from it by stakeholders.

50th ANOC Executive Council Meeting, Lausanne, 8 December 2009 Report from Africa 3

II. INSTITUTIONAL MEETINGS a) 13th ANOCA General Assembly.

Held from July 6 – 7 2009, in Abuja, Nigeria and coming at the end of the 2005 – 2008 Olympiad, this General Assembly was thus elective as the tenure of the office-hearers had reached expiry. Officially opened by the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria standing in for the President, Head of State and graced by the presence of the IOC President as Chief Guest, the General Assembly was attended by a record number of member NOCs, IOC members in Africa, 2016 bid cities (, , and ), International Federations vying for the two slots in the Olympic Programme (Baseball, Softball, Golf, Karate, Rugby, Squash, Roller-skating) and a host of other top dignitaries like the UN Special Adviser on Sports for Development and Peace and the ANOC Secretary General. If post-Assembly impressions are anything to go by, the Abuja meeting was considered one of the most successful so far. At the close of the General Assembly, four major challenges were identified that the newly elected ANOCA Executive has inter alia to grapple with during Olympiad 2009 – 2012. These are: x Africa Youth Games x 2010 Youth x 2011 All Africa Games x London 2012 Olympic Games b) Inaugural Meeting of the New ANOCA Executive Committee

The newly elected ANOCA Executive Committee held its inaugural meeting at Headquarters in Abuja on September 24, 2009. The meeting addressed issues like the comprehensive review of the ANOCA governing instruments, the provisions of which are mostly obsolete, commissions and commission membership, the Olympic Congress, Conflicts in NOCs like Ghana, the Secretariat General and Africa Youth Games slated to be organized in Tripoli, Libya in 2010. The next meeting will be held in Libya, in January 2010. c) XIIIth Olympic Congress, Copenhagen (Denmark) – 3-5 October 2009

Invited to participate in the XIIIth Olympic Congress that was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from October 3-5, 2009, ANOCA was represented by its 1st Vice President, Mr. Mustapha Berraf who stood in for the President. On behalf of ANOCA, Mr. Berraf delivered a presentation on the theme Good Governance and Ethics.

50th ANOC Executive Council Meeting, Lausanne, 8 December 2009 Report from Africa 4 It is also worthy of note to mention that the ANOCA President who attended the said Congress in his capacity as IOC member also had two contributions to his credit on the following themes: ¾ Olympic Games – Universality and Developing Countries ¾ The Athletes – Migration of African Athletes. d) 3rd Session of African Union Conference of Ministries of Sports

The 3rd Session of the African Union Conference of Ministries of Sport was held in Abuja, Nigeria from 12 to 16 October 2009. This meeting was of capital importance to the African sports movement as it finally had to decide on the dissolution of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa, the future of the All-Africa Games and the new Architecture of African Sports. ANOCA was represented by its President assisted by the 1st and 2nd Vice Presidents and the Secretary General. At the close, the Conference resolved that SCSA be dissolved after the 2011 Maputo Games.

III. ACTIVITIES IN NOCs

As the new Olympiad continues to unfold, the Secretariat is to receive lists of new executives of various member NOCs where applicable. Some have communicated changes that have taken place in their respective bodies and others we hope will follow suit. Such information is of vital importance to the secretariat for communication purposes. One major cause of concern to ANOCA has of late been the cases of blatant government interferences in the running of a number of members (NOCs Algeria, Ghana, and Rwanda just to name a few). This practice is repugnant not only to the respective NOC Constitutions but also to the . It is however commendable to note that in most cases both ANOCA and the IOC adopted common positions in support of our members and thus upheld the Olympic Charter. They also did not fail to bring to the knowledge of the parties concerned the measures to be taken in the final resort if such interferences continue to undermine the running of the NOCs concerned. This line of action adopted by ANOCA and IOC is a source of comfort to member NOCs as they now feel protected by their principal governing bodies.

IV. GAMES / COMPETITIONS

Lusophone Games – Lisbon, Portugal, 11 – 19 July 2009

At the invitation of the organizing committee for the games of Portuguese-speaking countries, the President attended this event that took place in Lisbon, Portugal. It should be recalled that ANOCA counts among its members five Portuguese-speaking countries and the presence of the President in Lisbon was both a stimulus and an encouragement to the athletes and officials from those member countries.

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12th Athletics World Championships Berlin, Germany, 15 23 August 2009

African athletes who competed in the 12th Athletics World Championship in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009 performed better than two years ago in Osaka, Japan.

They garnered a medal haul of 23 of which 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 6 Bronze as against 20 in Osaka (8 Gold, 5 Silver, 7 Bronze). Just as was the case two years ago, Kenya again came first in the African ranking with 11 medals, followed by Ethiopia (8 medals), South Africa (3 medals) and Eritrea (1 medal). As for the world rankings, USA came first with 22 medals of which 10 in gold, followed by Jamaica with 13 medals and Kenya (11).

The 12th edition will take place in Daegu () in 2011, while Africa still contemplates when to host it for the very first time ever since its creation in 1983. To echo the IAAF President, several African cities today have the capacity to host the Athletics World Championships.

On a sour note however, some African Athletes were controlled positive during doping control tests conducted at the championship which in the final days was overshadowed by a gender controversy concerning an African female athlete. In reaction to the doping cases ANOCA in cooperation with WADA Africa and other stakeholders undertakes to vigorously pursue the Education and awareness campaign of our athletes against doping which is one of the priorities pursued by the Olympic Movement.

Francophone Games – Beirut, Lebanon, 27 September – 6 October 2009

At the invitation of CONFEJES, ANOCA attended the 6th Francophone Games celebrated in Beirut, from September 27 – 6 October 2009. Unavailable to attend, the President appointed the 1st Vice President to stand in for him. As a result, Mr. Berraf on behalf of ANOCA delivered a presentation at a pre-Games Symposium held on September 26 on the theme Current Status of African Sport.

V. CONCLUSION

The new Executive of ANOCA driven by a spirit of team work is resolved to address the problems that have so far beset the Association. It is hoped that by the end of the Olympiad most of the problems would have been resolved in a satisfactory manner and the Association taken to loftier heights. Lastly, ANOCA would like to thank ANOC for the cooperation and assistance proffered it in the pursuit of the goals of the global Olympic Movement.

I thank you all.

50th ANOC Executive Council Meeting, Lausanne, 8 December 2009 Report from Africa