The third edition of the national games will kick off in less than five days in Douala.

After the first edition in Yaounde and second edition in Ngaoundere, the third edition of the national games dubbed DIXIADES will kick off in Douala on December 17. As the countdown to the kick off of the competition draws near, organizers have been multiplying efforts to make sure the Games take placer hitch-free this year. Preparatory meetings are held in Yaounde and Douala simultaneously by the national and local organization committees.

The draws for the collective sports disciplines have been made already after the qualifying series were conducted in the different regions of the country. According to the chairman of the organization committee, Minister Gregoire Owona, more powers have been devolved on the local organization committee to enable the better organisation of the competition.

Emphasis this year will be on training of the members of the local organization committee so that DIXIADES should become a reference in the organization of sports events in the country. Gregoire Owona said will be made to develop the sports infrastructure within the limited financial means of the Olympic movement in Cameroon. Measures will also be taken to avoid doping in the games and fraudulent activities such as impersonation, changing the ages of athletes and partiality in refereeing. The overall objective of the Olympic movement in the games is to detect and follow-up the preparation of athletes for the next Olympic Games in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

The competition will be limited to athletes between the ages of 17 and 23. The competition format in collective sports disciplines has also changed as there will be no semifinals. The competition will be in the league system with the first two of any group qualifying directly for the finals while the runners-up clash for the third position. Over 2000 athletes will be competing in ten sports disciplines namely; athletics, basketball, boxing, cycling, football (both men and women), weightlifting, handball, judo, wrestling, table tennis and volleyball.