(ATR) Leaders from African National Olympic Committees will meet next month to set dates for new elections.
A spokesperson for Association of National Olympic Committees for Africa President Lassana Palenfo confirmed to Around the Rings an Extraordinary General Assembly is set for July 17 in Algiers, Algeria. The meeting will happen just before the opening of the 2018 African Youth Games.
"There will be a single item on the agenda and [discussion of] future prospects," the spokesperson said.
That item will be the schedule for a second try at electing leadership for the continental association.
ANOCA last held elections at a General Assembly in Djibouti last year. Days before the assembly, the Executive Committee barred challenger candidate Hamad Kalkaba Malboum of Cameroun from running. The ruling claimed that Malboum used government funds in his campaign.
Malboum was running against Palenfo, who was seeking a fourth term as ANOCA President. Immediately after the assembly Malboum submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS upheld Malboum’s appeal last week, ruling that ANOCA must conduct new elections.
The Executive Committee ruling sparked days of confusion and subsequent controversy from the assembly. Months after the meeting Djibouti NOC President Aicha Garad Ali wrote a letter calling for an extraordinary meeting at the Association of National Olympic Committees assembly in Prague.
ANOCA met in an informal session in Prague to adopt a compromise that would allow Palenfo to maintain the post of President, but turn day to day operations of the confederation to its Executive Committee. A three-person subcommittee led by IOC member Sam Ramsamy was appointed to review ANOCA’s statues. The subcommittee was expected to deliver a report in March, but it is not clear if the report was made.
The electoral turmoil comes as Africa is set to host the 2022 Youth Olympic Games. A host city will be chosen in October at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires. ATR confirmed that the only agenda item for the assembly will be setting elections, and that any YOG business will not be discussed.
Written by Aaron Bauer
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