The first preparatory meeting presided by the scribe of the sports ministry took place on Friday April 15th.

Preparations have began in earnest towards hosting the 2016 edition of the African Cup of Nations in weightlifting which incidentally is going to also serve as qualifiers for the Rio Olympics. The first preparatory meeting towards hosting the event took place on Friday, April 15 at the conference hall of the Ministry of Sports and Physical Education.

Representing the minister, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Sports and Physical education, Oumarou Tado called on members of the organising committee to give in their best to make sure the event is a success saying it has to do with Cameroon’s image. He therefore recommended that those who are found wanting in their jobs should be put aside and replaced by more competent people. He disclosed that the equipment promised the federation will be available by the end of the week.

Besides preparing for the material organisation of the event, Cameroon has equally been preparing on the sporting so as not to only win medals but also clinch qualification spots for the Olympic Games. The national weightlifting team has been on external camp in a private club in Nlongkak for close to three months and will begin the internal camp as from Tuesday.

Four of the 19 athletes to be admitted into camp will have to be dropped as Cameroon will have to field 15 athletes for the competition; nine men and eight women. Meanwhile 17 countries have so far confirmed their participation in the competition. The competition is scheduled to take place from May 6th to14th, 2016 at the Yaounde sports complex in both the male and female categories.

During an inspection mission in Cameroon from January 31st to February 3rd, the Secretary General of the African weightlifting Confederation, Manareddin Eshelli approved Cameroon’s infrastructural capacity to host the event. He also received government’s assurance of the political will to host the event in Cameroon during audiences he had with the Secretary General of the ministry of Sports and Physical Education.