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Ten countries, including defending champions Nigeria and hosts Ghana, are expected to feature athletes in the second edition of the ECOWAS Games which gets underway in Accra on Saturday.
A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Accra for Games reports that the other countries expected are : Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d' Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
They will take part in athletics which is for the under-19, as well as boxing, handball, volleyball and traditional wrestling which will all have under-23 participants.
The Games is taking place at the El-Wak Stadium and the Accra Sports Stadium, with the opening ceremony fixed for Saturday, June 16 at the El-Wak Stadium.
The Nigerian contingent arrived on Thursday night and will be taking part in three sports namely, athletics, traditional wrestling and boxing.
NAN also confirmed from local organising officials that contingents from Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Mali and Burkina Faso had also arrived in Accra.
The contingents have been lodged at the hostels of the University of Ghana, Legon, which is some kilometres away from the two stadiums where the events will take place.
The university campus is serving as the Games Village.
The two stadiums also looked ready for the Games, having been renovated for the Games some days back.
The El-Wak Stadium is hosting the athletics events, while a combat sport arena and the indoor hall of the Accra Sports Stadium are hosting the traditional wrestling and boxing events respectively.
The Accra Sports Stadium’s courts will host the handball and volleyball events.
NAN reports that the Games, whose first edition was held in Abuja, Nigeria in 2010, are scheduled to end on June 22.
