(ANSAmed) – TUNIS, APRIL 3 – The significant integration drive in North Africa, which is using political and economic avenues, also passes through the world of sport. As a result, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Algeria have decided to set up a federation uniting the basketball authorities of the four countries.
The new organisation will initially be headed for a period of two years by the chair of the Tunisian federation, Ali Benzarti, whose deputy will be his Algerian counterpart, Rabeh Bouarifi. Benzarti was elected during a meeting of the four national federations in Tunis on common problems and relative solutions.
The organisation already wants to open itself up to other regional basketball associations, such as Mauritania, for which the possibility of joining the new organisation has been left open, and was essentially created on the basis of two considerations. The first is that the movement will call on the contribution of several federations to begin more constructive dialogue with international bodies, while the second is that only with dialogue, and a subsequent continuous exchange of experience, can the knowledge of the respective federations be increased The schedule for the rotating presidency of the organisation has already been drawn up. After Benzarti’s two years in charge, the presidency will move over to Algeria, then Morocco and later Libya, before potentially including Mauritania, if, as appears likely, the country soon agrees to join the newly-created body.
The new federation has decided to base its structure on six commissions dealing with finances, marketing and media (head by the Tunisian contingent); fixtures and discipline (Libya); technical issues, refereeing and sports medicine (Morocco); regulations (Algeria); women’s basketball (Algeria); youth teams and mini-basketball (Morocco) The Maghreb Basketball Federation has already drafted an initial programme of five events to be organised in the next few months: the first North African Club Championship, both for men (from October 25 to November 3 in Algeria) and women (from December 15 to 25 in Tunisia); the international tournament for men (January 5 to 15 2013 in Morocco) and women (March 15 to 30 2013 in Algeria), and the mini-basketball championship (to be held in Morocco in the first week of July 2013). (ANSAmed).
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