Tanzania to host East, Central Africa athletics championship

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania will host the East and Central Africa Junior Under-19 Athletics Championship (EAAR) to be held in Dar es Salaam. Scheduled for April 29-30, the regional event will be beamed live by Azam FC.

One of the Athletics Tanzania (AT) officials, Ombeni Zavalla said yesterday that the event will be staged at the 60-seater National Stadium in the city. “We are doing well in preparations, gearing up for hosting such a major international event,” said Zavalla, who is the acting secretary general of AT.

According to Zavalla, nine countries will field runners in both girls and boys discipline.

Apart from hosts, Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, other countries to field runners include Somalia , Djibouti , Kenya , Uganda , Rwanda , Sudan , Ethiopia and Eritrea.

She said all the teams have officially confirmed their participation with exception of South Sudan.

“ Ast he deadline of confirmation was Friday, we therefore consider South Sudan out for their failure to do so,” she said.

“We expect the event will be very stiff with young runners aiming at scoring good records,” she said.

Zavalla said that the local runners who will take part in the event are now in serious training.

“It’s our expectations that our local runners will fare well in the championship despite being very competitive,” she said. Zavallan said the beaming of the two-day event will enable more athletics fans watching it at their homes.

“It will give an ideal opportunity to local fans to watch it live at their homes while seated,” she said.

Zavalla thanked the Azam TV management for making it live.

“We highly thank them for their efforts in promoting athletics in the country,”

“We hope the move will inspire more people like athletics,” she said.

She said the Mainland team features 27 players who are currently training at Filbert Bayi hostels in Kibaha, Coast region.