Egypt’s mission in the 2019 All-Africa Games, hosted by the Moroccan city of Rabat on 19-31 August, will include 297 athletes participating in 24 sports, the Egyptian Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday. The 2019 African Games will be a qualification step for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The sports in which Egypt will participate are: archery, athletics, badminton, 3×3 basketball, boxing, canoeing, fencing, equestrian, gymnastics, handball, judo, karate, badminton, rowing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling, plus two non-Olympic games: chess and snooker.
The Minister of Youth and Sports, Ashraf Sobhy, called on the participating athletes to do their best. He expressed his confidence in the players and their ability to win medals.
The sports minister stressed that the Egyptian government, led by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, put sports at the top of its priorities. He added that the great achievements of Egyptian sport are the result of unlimited support from the political leadership.
The African Games are held every four years and this edition will be played in four cities: Rabat, Casablanca, El Jadida, and Salé, after Equatorial Guinea withdrew from hosting the tournament. About 5,000 African athletes are expected to join the 2019 African Games. Morocco is the third Arab country to host the Games after Egypt in 1991, and Algeria in 1978 and 2007.
