NAIROBI, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Rugby Africa will have two regional rugby sevens tournament in Burundi and Cote d'Ivoire bringing together 12 countries and regions in September to select teams that will be promoted to Africa Men's Sevens 2019 and contest for the 2020 Olympic qualifiers.
Rugby Africa President, Abdelaziz Bougja said the two regional rugby sevens tournaments in Abidjan, and Bujumbura will mark the first step in the continent's long campaign to select teams that will compete in the men's tourney at the Olympics.
"We are getting ready for a celebration of rugby in Abidjan and I congratulate all the federations present, which, for the most part, have limited resources and have made enormous efforts to mobilize their teams and make the trip. Their passion of rugby is strong and the stakes are high for the teams participating in the tournament," Bougja told Xinhua on Saturday.
Bougja said the new format will open the competition as wide as possible to give the greatest number of players and team the opportunity to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
"An invitation was sent to all Rugby Africa federations not already qualified for the main African rugby tournament. Those who accepted were entered into the competition for the first round of the Olympic qualifications for the men's rugby sevens," said Bougja.
The teams heading for the West Africa include Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, Niger and Mali. The eight teams will compete in Abidjan for the tourney that starts Saturday to Monday.
"Ivory Coast (Cote d'Ivoire) and Nigeria will be keen to prove that they deserve to return to the African tournament where they used to play. However, all of the other teams will be doing their best to stamp their authority and carve their own niche. Guinea will be participating for the first time in our competitions after joining Rugby Africa in 2016," said Bougja.
The second tournament, which will be staged in Bujumbura will be played on Sept. 29-30.
It will bring together teams from host Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Lesotho.
In addition to being promoted in the Africa Men's Sevens 2019 tournament and a shot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games qualifiers, these tournaments represent an opportunity for Rugby Africa's technical staff to evaluate talent and provides a gateway to the first level of competition for the fifteens and joining the Rugby Africa Bronze Cup.
