24 Jun 2024

 Botswana has lost the bid to host 2026 Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Africa Senior Athletics Championships to Ghana.

Botswana was voted by three delegates, while Ghana which recently hosted the African Games garnered 12 votes.

Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) vice president Oabona Theetso confirmed in an interview that they had submitted their intension to bid for the next edition.

He thanked the three CAA council member who voted for Botswana, adding that it was painful for them given that they had wanted the championships to be hosted in Botswana.

He said the main objective of submitting the bid was to show Africa the flora and fauna of the country as well to demonstrate that athletics in Botswana was growing.

“ As you know sport on its own can contribute immensely to the GDP and had  we won the rights to host, all African countries including, athletes, coaches and spectators were going to come to Botswana, enhancing sport tourism,” he said.

Furthermore Theetso said Ghana recently hosted the African Games while the last edition of the Championships were held in Nigeria, and that alone would had been good for the council to consider another region.

He said they had also hoped that the council would again consider that Botswana was a country which had peace and stability.

Theetso however said the defeat would not deter them for bidding for other competitions, adding that there were other competition in the calendar.

Asked about why their bid seemed secretive, BAA vice president said they had consulted Botswana National Sport Council which gave them a green light. Ends