African Games. Encyclopedia of World Sport

The African Games began 1965 as a force for African
solidarity and a means of uniting the continent against
South Africa’s apartheid system. By 1995, determined
African leadership with International Olympic Committee (IOC) support had held six African Games, and
South Africa had become a participant. The games had
tested the Olympic ideal of athletic competition as a
means of securing peaceful international understanding while increasing cultural and national identity on a
continent whose populous and relatively young nations
had many contrasting cultural and political traditions.
History
Attempts were made to hold All-Africa games in Algiers in 1925 and Alexandria in 1929, but these failed
due to colonial politics, language differences, poor
communications systems, and economic difficulties,
then the Depression and World War II stymied further
attempts.Athletes of African descent performed well in
the Olympics, although few Africans participated on
their national teams. In 1928, a Moroccan won the
marathon while competing for France and Americans
of African descent were successful in track events.
The end of colonial rule in the decades after World
War II brought the creation of 32 new African nations,
17 in 1960 alone. Many of the new national governments included a culture, youth, and sports ministry,
and various sports competitions were held within the
continent. In 1959, French-speaking athletes competed
in games at Bangui (what is now the Central African
Republic). In the independence year of 1960, East and
West African games were held. The same year, former
French colonies held the Games of Friendship in Tananarive (now the capital, Antananarivo), Madagascar. In
1961, athletes from France and 22 African countries
participated in the second games at Abidjan, Côte
d’Ivoire. The third Games of Friendship were held in
April 1963, in Dakar, Senegal. French athletes joined
those from 19 francophone and 5 anglophone countries in competing in track and field, boxing, soccer, cycling, swimming, basketball, volleyball, handball, and
judo. Women competed in track and field and basketball. Athletes from Mediterranean Africa, such as
Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco, participated in
the Mediterranean Games and athletes in anglophone
Africa took part in the Commonwealth Games. By
1968, 45 African countries were involved in international sports. The nations most active in Olympic
sporting events were Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Ethiopia,
Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, and Uganda.
The first African Games opened July 1965 at Brazzaville. More than 1,000 individuals from 30 nations
competed in track and field, swimming, basketball
(male and female), soccer (association football), handball, volleyball, boxing, cycling, judo, and tennis. Soccer
attracted the largest crowds. Despite lingering rivalries
between former French and British colonies and instances of pushing, holding, and striking, the soccer
federation reacted favorably to the games’ management
and the progress they represented.
In December 1966, 32 nations in the three-year-old
Organization for African Unity (OAU) formed the
Supreme Council for Sports in Africa. Composed of
sports ministers, national sports committee heads, National Olympic Committee presidents, IOC members,
and sports federation presidents, the Supreme Council’s general purpose was to coordinate and promote
sports, but the “primary motivating force” was “an attack on South Africa’s apartheid sport.” The Supreme
Council led in staging the African Games and opposing
South African participation in international sports. Its
policy of racial apartheid led to South Africa’s disbarment from the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and expulsion
from the Olympic movement in 1970.
Postponed by a 1969 coup in Mali, the second
African Games opened in Lagos, Nigeria, in January
1973, with delegations from 41 countries and 50,000
spectators. In July 1978, the third African Games
opened with nearly 3,000 athletes from 45 nations assembled before 70,000 spectators in Algiers. Media coverage was extensive. The Algerian team of 265 athletes
dominated. Henry Rono of Kenya won gold medals in
the 10,000 meters and the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
The report to the IOC commended the games for “transcending the current political divisions.”
The fourth African Games were held in Nairobi,
Kenya, in August 1987. Approximately 4,000 competitors from 38 nations participated. After nine years
during which the games had been postponed twice,
the tenacity of the Supreme Council for Sports in
Africa and the Organizing Committee helped stage the
Nairobi games, which were funded by a variety of
sources, including the People’s Republic of China.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak opened the fifth
African Games in Cairo in September 1991. Forty-two
nations participated in 16 sports. Meeting before the
games, the General Assembly of African National
Olympic Committees admitted South Africa and
Namibia to membership. The IOC provided substantial
financial support. It reported that “the situation is a lot
better” than in previous games. Egypt, Nigeria, and
Kenya dominated the games, and newcomer Namibia
won several medals.
The sixth African Games were held in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September 1995, when a South African team
participated for the first time. A cash crisis caused by
drought, World Bank restrictions, and a lack of sponsors limited participation and hampered the preparation of venues.
Nevertheless, as conditions permit, African Games
are likely to continue. African athletes have proved
themselves competitive internationally, a situation that
intracontinental competitions can only improve.
—MAYNARD BRICHFORD
Bibliography: Allison, Lincoln, ed. (1986) The Politics of
Sport. Manchester: Manchester University Press. Baker,
William F., and James A. Mangan. (1987) Sport in Africa.
New York: Africana Publishing Company. Avery Brundage
Collection. Box 196, University of Illinois Archives.
Lapchick, Richard E. (1975) The Politics of Race and International Sport, The Case of South Africa. Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press. Olympic Review (September 1977; August–September 1978; April–June 1987; October 1987;
September–November 1991; August–September 1995).
Ukah, Matthias O. (1990) “Socio-cultural Forces in
Growth of All African Games.”Journal of the International
Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation 26,
2: 16–20. Wagner, Eric A., ed. (1989) Sport in Asia and
Africa. New York: Greenwood Press.

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