A two-day meeting on the development of athletics in Africa opened in Yaounde on Wednesday December 20, 2017.

The policy of the International Athletics Federation (IAAF) is that of decentralisation in the development of athletics. As such, each continent will know its specificities and put in place strategies that will adapt to their needs. It is in this light that a two-day meeting on a new development strategy on athletics in Africa opened in Yaounde on Wednesday December 20, 2017. Organised by the Confederation of Africa athletics (CAA), the meeting brought together directors of high performance training centres which take care of athletes and directors of regional development centres for the training of coaches and managers on the continent.

The President of the Development Committee of the Confederation of African Federation, Kalkaba Malboum said there is need to set up the right strategies combining training and education for athletes.

For two days, the participants discussed on proposals such as improving the conditions of athletes in Africa, training programmes for athletes and coaches and the restructuring of athletics federations in the different African countries. “This global strategy must also consider at the national level how to run professionally the activities of the federation. The federation must have a headquarters, the personnel, programme identification of young talents, among others,” he said. The participants were expected to discuss and come out with a final document for the development of athletics on the continent.