Morocco pulls out of African Para-Games

The much-awaited first-ever Africa Paralympic Games scheduled for Rabat, Morocco next year has been cancelled.

This follows the decision of Morocco to reverse its decision over the hosting of the event after an initial agreement.

The Games, which has over the years been part of the main African Games was separated to give para-sports exclusivity, has hit a snag.

The Para Games was expected to serve as qualifiers for the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

In a letter addressed to the National Paralympic Committees (NPC’s) from the Africa Paralympic Committee (APC) and signed by Mr. George Schlachtenberger Executive Director of APC, it said “as you all know we had a signed detailed contract with the Moroccan Sports Ministry, but after a change of the Minister two weeks ago, we were informed that the Kingdom of Morocco would not organize the games in 2020.

“It`s a shock to all of us. We are totally disappointed, as we never expected this decision after all the hard work.

“Since we received this information, we are looking for solutions to organize the games in a different country or at least ensure that our African athletes would have qualification opportunities for the Tokyo Paralympic Games,” it stated.

The letter said there is still the chance, that another country could be the host of the games in March 2020. This would still be within the qualification period of the Tokyo 2020 qualification guide.

“If the country will not accept, we need to identify opportunities for those sports with qualification opportunities for the Tokyo Games,” it added.