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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
AIPS Africa President attends
Ordinary Congress of ANJSCA
By Fridolin Wambobo From December 16 to 17, the Central African Sports Journalists Association (ANJSCA) held its Ordinary Congress of the year 2023 in Bangui.
The theme of this meeting, which was attended by Central African sports journalists from all corners of the country, was “The Fight Against the Circu- lation of False Sports Information”. And for the first time, the newly elected president of AIPS Africa Abdoulaye Thiam travelled to Bangui. Invited by the ANJSCA president Fridolin Wambobo, Thiam gave a presentation on the founding of AIPS as well as the African continental section, before sharing his vision which consists of boosting all African associations to organise training for members and being more dynamic. The AIPS Africa president met with the Minister of Sports of the Central African Republic, Aristide Briand Reboas - who opened the congress, the president of the Central African Olympic and Sports Committee as well as the president of the Central African Football Federation. Thiam asked these authorities to support the country’s sports press, especially in the area of organising training.
AIPS Africa President Abdoulaye Thiam (middle) with ANJSCA mem- bers at the 3rd Ordinary Congress of the ANJSCA (Photo by ANJSCA)
IVORY COAST
African Women Sports Reporters Union organises symposium to discuss their role in Africa
By Priscille G. Moadougou The African Women Sports Reporters Union (UFRESA) organised, on November 7, 2023 in Abidjan, its first symposium to talk about the place of women sports journalists in Africa.
Experts from Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal and Congo joined experts from Ivory Coast to dissect the topic.
The symposium was structured around five sub-themes, with an average of four speakers each, from different backgrounds.
In the sub-theme entitled “Importance of gender-balanced representation in sports coverage”, the following points were made: “Journalism has no gender. It is up to the journalist to work and work well to ensure her visibility wherever she goes. However, women journalists must continue their role in promoting women wherever they are, in particular by helping to highlight up-and-coming female athletes,” former Ivory Coast Sports Minister Geneviève Bro-Grebe, stated. Other speakers were Louisette-Renée Thobi Étamé Ndedi, general secretary of the Confejes, Evelyn Watta, AIPS vice-president, and Ndèye Dome Thiouf, Chief editor of RTS Senegal.
Lecturers Amadou Touré, Wally Karim and Michèle Topé spoke on “Skills and training required for female sports reporters”. Another panel was dedicated to “Best practices and initiatives to encourage the participation of women sports reporters”.
François Allah, Secretary of the National Sports Council, gave a presentation en- titled “Empowerment and contribution of women reporters to the development of sport”. And the last panel was on “Challenges and opportunities for women reporters in the sports industry”.
FROM THE WORLD
MOROCCO
First National Sports Journalism Forum explores fundamental topics ahead of 2030 FIFA World Cup
By Morad Moutaouakkil The 1st National Sports Journalism Forum in Morocco was held on December 9 in Rabat, with the participation of journalists and various players in the sports field.
This forum, organised under
the theme "The challenges of
national sports journalism with
a view to 2030", was an oppor-
tunity to promote the exchange
of ideas, as well as the sharing
of successful experiences at the
national and international level
between media professionals,
academics and researchers
specialising in sports journalism.
The Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohammed Mehdi Ben- said, stated that the upcoming major sporting events, such as the World Cup and the African Cup of Nations, to be hosted by the Kingdom will high- light the important role of sports journalists. He noted that sports journalists have the responsibility to highlight the progress recorded by the Kingdom and promote Morocco's destination at all levels. He added that “Morocco's organisation of the 2030 World Cup is not only a sporting stage but also a stage of large-scale socio-economic development.”
This was also echoed by the president of the Royal Moroccan Football Fed- eration, Fouzi Lekjaa, who is also the president of the “2030 World Cup Committee”.
AIPS president Gianni Merlo said the Forum is a good opportunity to explore developments in this profession, which is facing new challenges like arti- ficial intelligence.
“This is an opportunity to examine the role of the sports journalists in Mo- rocco in the light of the Kingdom’s upcoming organisation of the 2030 World Cup,” he explained, adding that the sports journalists are currently facing many challenges, such as the impact of new technologies, hence the importance of this meeting to enable them share ideas on how to to adapt to these changes.
AIPS Africa president, Abdoulaye Thiam, also gave a speech at the event, stating that the World Cup will showcase the infrastructure and organisa- tional know-how of Morocco, not forgetting the rich cultural diversity. He hailed the organisers for including a “Discovery Morocco” programme for the press in their planned activities, adding that it is also important for the Organising Committee to develop a strong collaboration with AIPS Africa. Some Moroccan sports journalists were honoured during this Forum.
In a speech read on behalf of the Minister of National Education, Preschool and Sports, Chakib Benmoussa, the director of sport at the ministry, Ab- derrazak El Akari recalled that the choice of Morocco to organise the 2030 World Cup, alongside Spain and Portugal, is a recognition of the Kingdom's special and distinguished position at the international level and the values of tolerance and coexistence that it promotes. “The achievements of na- tional sport, in particular football, have helped to shed light on the passion of Moroccans for this aspect,” he said, adding that the virtuous sporting dynamic experienced by the Kingdom concerns all sporting disciplines. He specified that sport has gone beyond its traditional aspects by becoming strongly present in Morocco's development plans, as well as a means of social integration and education of young people.
Fouzi Lekjaa, president of Morocco Football Federation and president of the World Cup 2030 organising committee with Badreddine Drissi, president of the Morocco Sports JournalistsAssociation
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