In 2022 African Kurash Union held several national events ranging from competition to courses and seminars and also attending online seminars and courses. AKU was fortunate to receive funding from the Uzbekistan government facilitated by the IKA. These funds were allocated to the African Championships, AKU elective congress, courses and seminars, as well as upcoming refereeing and regional competition to be held in Congo Brazzaville in December 2022.
This funding is greatly appreciated and assists greatly to grow and popularize kurash on the African continent.
Briefly about 2022 activities of AKU. African Championships for seniors and juniors took place in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) in South Africa. All participants were equipped with proper Yakhtaks. Participating Nations were DRC, South Africa, Cameroon, Congo, Botswana, Eswatini, Benin, Ghana, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Mauritius.
On the day prior to the African Championships, new IKA grading system was practically introduced to all national federations. The grading system was also explained to everyone and the minimum requirements were explained.
The refereeing course was presented and explained by the AKU refereeing director Guy Ambeto from Congo. Basically federations are allowed to do upgrading’s from 1 to 4 lines (National Referees). Continental refereeing status (5 Lines) may be obtained only at continental events. IKA status (1 to 3 Star) only achievable at IKA sanctioned events as per IKA regulations.
A new scoreboard design was proceeded and we with great success at the African Kurash Championships. Secondly we proceeded with the draw and event program Weigh-in lists, seeding and printing of elimination sheets are all integrated in the program. The program will be made available to all federations and I hope that it will make the running of tournaments in a structured matter easier for everyone.
After conclusion of the 2022 African Kurash Championships the AKU elective congress was held and the following persons were elected for the next term.
President: Thomas Dunker (South Africa)
General Secretary: Marcel Ngoka (Congo)
Technical Director: Mathieu Nkangang (Cameroon)
Vice President: Francis Yafali (DRC)
Treasurer: Willie Paulsen (Botswana)
P-Assistant to President: Urbain Keya (Congo)
President Southern Zone: Tersius Esterhuizen (Eswatini)
Other zones to be elected: Central, West, North and East
The following AKU events (refereeing course, grading course and examination, Open weight competition) are planned for December to be hosted by Congo in Brazzaville.
It is a great concern to me that the IKA Junior and Cadet Kurash World Championships have not taken place for several years. The last time a junior world championships took place was in 2014. For our sport to survive in this competitive environment we have to create opportunities for our young athletes.
Good development is taking place in Africa concerning new federations affiliating and requesting affiliation also inactive federations regaining momentum. Ivory Coast, Egypt, Djibouti, Guinea Bissau, Mali and others.
