Having won the award of hosting the 33rd edition of the African Handball Club Championship, Nigeria Handball Federation has revealed it is putting finishing touches for the staging of the competition. The federation yesterday said it is ready to receive the inspection team from the Confederation of African Handball (CAHB), who are slated to visit the country to see for themselves Nigeria’s preparedness.
The inspection team is expected to be in Nigeria June 10. The team upon arrival will move straight to Kaduna, venue for the competition, to inspect the facilities for the championship.
President of Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN), Alhaji Yusuf Dauda, said that in line with the handball tradition in Nigeria, the federation cannot help but deliver to optimum level. He added that Kaduna has one of the best indoor halls for handball in Nigeria which will go a long way in making the championship memorable.
He said that as soon as the nation was awarded the hosting right, the federation made all the necessary consultations and that now Nigeria is 95% ready to host the rest of Africa.
On the CAHB inspection team visit, the Minna based sports administrator said the handball federation has been in constant touch with them revealing that they would not be disappointed when they see what is on ground in Nigeria. “We are set to host them. Kaduna is fast turning out to be the home of handball in Nigeria and they have once again proved it with action for accepting to host the championship. What we are appealing to Nigerians is their maximum support and prayers so that we can host a hitch free championship. Nigeria will present teams that will make us proud because it has always been in our tradition to come tops in an event like this and hopefully, this will not be an exception. HFN has set all machineries in motion for this championship but as I said before, lets welcome the CAHB inspection team first, then from there we can plan and move ahead” he said.
Kaduna has hosted several handball championships in the past. The state hosted the maiden edition of the Commonwealth ECOWAS Handball Championship and the sports festival in 2008. In 2010, it hosted the Handball League which saw over 15 clubs competing for over a week.
The African Handball Club Championship will be held in Kaduna from October 21 – 29 with over 20 countries which have declared interest to participate. Yaoundé, the capital of Republic of Cameroun hosted the last edition of the championship in 2010.
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