SPORT 

African judo Championships postponed to November, December

ALGIERS-The African Judo Championship (men and women) qualifying to the 2020-Tokyo Olympics will take place in next November and December in Morocco, announced first Deputy-Chairman of the African Judo Union Mohamed Meridja.

"We have decided to reschedule the African Championships (individual and teams events) on from 28 November to 1 December in Morocco," Meridja told APS.

The competition was initially scheduled on 25-27 June in the same country but has been put off owing to the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).

"The African Championships are very important for participating athletes because it will help them to gain a lot of points and thus improve their position in the Olympic qualification ranking in Tokyo," explained Meridja.

In addition to this competition, African athletes will also have the opportunity to snatch points in anticipation of a qualification to the Olympic Games in the two continental tournaments of Dakar and Yaoundé.

The new dates of these two "important" competitions, scheduled for 7-8 November in Yaoundé then 14-15 November in Dakar, have not yet been set.

"The African Judo Union also decided to postpone the African championships (cadets and juniors/boys and girls), initially scheduled for 07-10 September, to late September then early October. All other competitions have been cancelled," said the same official.