Category: Sports

The Boko Haram insurgencies in the Far North, violence in the Northwest and Southwest, Central African refugees’ influx in the East region, and the conflict in the Lake Chad basin are some of the vital assistance needs in Cameroon at the moment.

The United Nations Coordinator has unveiled the 2023 humanitarian tesponse plan estimated at over 400 million USD about 240 billion CFA. This was during a ceremony attended by the Minister of territorial administration, Paul Atanga Nji on May 11th in Yaounde.

The humanitarian response plan seeks to address the immediate and urgent needs of the most vulnerable people in Cameroon in 2023.

“The needs range from food insecurity to issues related to housing, water and sanitation and so many others. This amount will improve interventions for internally displaced persons, refugees, and people to return to their localities of origin,” the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Cameroon, Mathias Naab stated.

Launching the humanitarian response plan, Minister Paul Atanga Nji thanked partners for their contribution to providing humanitarian assistance and urged the international community to provide easy, flexible, and sufficient funding to sustain this year’s plan.

“As a result of relative calm in the Northwest and Southwest regions, more than 377,000 internally displaced persons have gone back to their homes. This has been possible thanks to the permanent financial and material assistance from the Presidential Humanitarian Special Support Program,” the minister reiterated.

It should be recalled that In 2022, of the $376 million (F CFA 225.6 billion) expected, only $2083.7 million (F CFA 125.2 billion) was finally received, or a percentage of 55.5%, according to OCHA figures

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 2.7 million people, 77% of whom are women and children, need urgent assistance. This office reports that these people suffer from the effects of violence, climate shocks, and epidemics.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Seychellois sports specialist Lucas Georges has been elected as an executive expert on the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) for region IV.

Georges, who works as a principal sports officer within the National Sports Council (NSC) in Seychelles, has decades of experience in local sports, most notably cycling, where he served as the Seychelles Cycling Federation’s chairman for a number of years.

He has also held the positions on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) management committee.

His election on the AUSC region IV executive committee came during their recent meeting held in Arusha, Tanzania, earlier this month.

Speaking to the media, Georges expressed that this is a huge achievement for him, where it means that his ability is valued at such a top level.

The African Union Sports Council (AUSC) is the AU’s specialised technical office in charge of sports and was established in 2016 when the Assembly of African Heads of State and Government approved the AUSC Statute.

It was chosen by member states to serve as a venue for concerted action for the promotion and development of sports and development through sport in Africa. Its mandate is to coordinate the African Sports Union Movement.

Bernard Patrick Ogwel was elected into the post of chairman, while Ali Hassan Achir is the new vice- chairman.

Seychelles is a member of region IV, along with Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Mauritius, and Comoros.

As a result of Georges’ election, Seychelles has been additionally appointed a 2nd vice president of the African Union Sports Council of Ministers, a position that was expected to go to Rwanda ahead of the meeting.

Source: Seychelles News Agency

Andre Onana has set a record as the first Inter Milan goalkeeper to have seven clean sheets in a single UEFA Champions League campaign.

The Cameroonian and team Inter keeper, defeated home rivals AC Milan 2-0 to take the lead after the first match of their two-legged UCL semi-final. The second leg comes up on May 16.

Inter Milan’s outing on Wednesday counted as Andre Onana’s 11th Champions League game this season with a total of 44 saves.

The 27-year-old has immensely impressed fans in 37 games across all competitions for Inter. He has 8 clean sheets in 22 matches for the Serie A club in the local championship.

It should be noted that Onana has spent barely ten months with the club. He was signed on free transfer from Ajax last summer where his goalkeeping equally received much praise.

Andre Onana resigned from the Cameroon national team in December 2022 during the World Cup in Qatar. His departure happened after a misunderstanding with head coach Rigobert Song.

There have been calls for the goalkeeper’s return although he is yet to react.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

Petro de Luanda’s senior women’s handball team beat Sporting of Alexandria 26-20 on Tuesday morning, in their debut match of the Cup Winners’ Club Cup, taking place in Egypt.

At half-time, referring to the first round of group A of the 39th Edition of the competition, which takes place in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, the Angolans were already winning 15-9.

Another Angolan club, 1º de Agosto, also playing in this competition, faces today at 4pm the Habitat from Côte d’Ivoire, for group B.

Source: Angola Press News Agency (APNA)

Two students of Government High school (GHS) Bangante have died and one is seriously injured following an accident that occurred on Monday May 8th, 2023 at descente Lycée in Bangante in the Nde division of the West Region.

The students were all in the class of Première D according to reports.

We learn that during sports exams taking place on the school campus, the three students decided to use their free time for a ride. Eyewitnesses say the speeding bike carrying all three students, lost control and hit an electric poll during their ride as a result of recklessness and over-speeding.

“They were three of them on the bike and were joking while accelerating it. That is how they went and hit the poll there. The two who were in front hit their heads on the poll and passed away on the spot while the one who was behind survived,” a witness testified.

“As I was riding pass, I saw three bodies lying on the ground, and the passenger I had on my bike decided that we should carry the one who was injured,” a bike rider explained.

The bodies were taken to the Bangante district hospital mortuary while the injured whose condition was critical, was evacuated to the Bafoussam Regional Hospital for medical attention.

As a result of this accident, youths of the Sagnam neighborhood where the tragic incident occurred, decided to take immediate actions against overloading and over speeding which they say are the main causes of accidents on the road.

“We have decided to spot out stubborn bike riders who overload and who ride on high speed, especially those who overtake at wrong moments. A bike should have two persons and not more,” declared a youth.

Informed of the situation, elements of Bangangte Police Station descended to the site to open investigations. This incident comes in just days after another fatal accident occurred in Bangwa along the national number 4 road. The accident was the result of a collision between a bike and an inter-urban transport vehicle that led to two deaths.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The organisers of the 11th edition of the Indian Ocean Island Games (IOIG) remain confident that the event will go ahead in Madagascar in August as planned.

The president of the International Games Committee (CIJ), Antonio Gopal, said: “I have just recently spoken to both the Minister for Sports and the President of Madagascar, who both assured me that the games will go ahead as planned.”

In a recent article published by Reunion 1ere, on May 2, there was conflicting view on whether or not the games as there were conflicting views from the president of the Olympic Committee of Madagascar and the country’s Minister for Youth and Sports.

“Uncertainty still hangs over the future of the Island Games which are due to be held from 23 August to 3 September. The president of the Olympic Committee of Madagascar estimates the chances of the Games taking place at 2 percent. The Minister of Youth and Sports says that 98 percent, if not 100 percent of the IOG will take place,” said the article.

Gopal, who is also the president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association, remains confident that the games will go ahead.

He told SNA that in the unlikely event that Madagascar cannot host the games, then another country will have to take on the hosting duties and the games will likely be postponed up until 2025.

Meanwhile, another article on Reunion 1ere on May 4 said that “The President of the Malagasy Republic, Andry Rajoelina, candidate to his succession, has just broken his silence on the subject of the Island Games which are due to take place from 23 August to 3 September 2023 on the Big Island.”

It added that “With three months to go, President Andry Rajoelina has asked officials in the Ministry of Sports to roll up their sleeves to meet the deadline.”

The 2023 games are scheduled to take place in Madagascar from August 23 to September 3 and some of the main issues are whether or not the renovation of certain facilities will be done in time.

The IOIG is a muti-sport event that takes place every four years for athletes from the Indian Ocean Islands. For the 11th edition, 23 sporting disciplines are on the programmes with the participation of over 2,000 athletes.

They are athletics (track and field – handi-sport), badminton, basketball (3×3 and 5×5), boxing, cycling, equestrian, football, beach soccer, weightlifting, handball, judo, karate, kickboxing, wrestling, swimming (handi-sport), petanque, rugby (7×7 and 15×15), taekwondo, archery, tennis, table tennis, yachting, volleyball, beach volleyball, and surfing.

Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Reunion and the Maldives are the regular participants in the games, with Mauritius, the previous hosts, claiming the most gold medals in the 2019 games.

Source: Seychelles News Agency