Jani eyes Rugby Africa post

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE Rugby Union president Aaron Jani will be eyeing a seat on the Rugby Africa executive committee when the continental body meets to elect a new leadership in Marrakech, Morocco, at the end of this month.

Jani and former ZRU national Sevens committee member, Collen De Jong, will be hoping to garner the support of fellow unions and be elected into the new executive at the indaba on February 27- March 2.

There is a bid by Rugby Africa to reserve two slots on the executive for women and there are hopes De Jong could be one of the duo to be elected.

Jani, who has been on a crusade to turn around the ZRU and is also leading the bid to make the Sables re-emerge as a force on the continent, has all the credentials to secure a seat on the executive.

In fact, African rugby is set to have a change of guard at the top with the long reign of the continental body’s president Abdelaziz Bougja’s coming to an end at the summit in Morocco.

“We have raised lots of issues for discussion at the meeting and these include the timing of the Gold Cup for World Cup qualifiers. We believe it should be staged at least two years before the World Cup itself to give the African teams a chance in the Repechage.

“There is also need to review the general format of the Gold Cup and funding of this tournament.

“We have also given or input on some proposed constitutional amendments,’’ Jani said.

Many member associations, especially those in Eastern and Southern Africa, will be hoping that the incoming Rugby Africa president will grant a bigger audience to the concerns of the Anglo-Saxon countries.

Under Bougja’s 17-year reign, Rugby Africa has largely been perceived to be biased towards the Francophone with the Moroccan, originally elected president of the CAR at the general assembly of Yaoundé in 2002, doing little to dispel that notion.

Bougja, however, spoke proudly of his record at the helm of the continental body.

“In 2002, the CAR had 16 members, today there are 39. In 2018, the various national teams from 24 countries participated in competitions organised by Rugby Africa,’’ he said

“The qualifiers for the 2019 World Cup generated nearly two million views on social media. Rugby has become very much a mainstream sport and is widely played in Africa. In 2018 alone, we introduced 459,000 young people to the joys of the oval ball. Our sport is the one with the highest growth rate in Africa.

“My successor will inherit a stable and professional organisational structure. We have set out clearly defined plans and priorities. One of them is to promote the participation of women in African rugby. To this end, we propose to nominate a minimum of two women to the Executive Committee, but I hope we will have more.

“I am looking forward to this summit, which will be a real celebration of African rugby, Africa, its culture and its diversity. I am also delighted to be able to hand over the torch in my native country, Morocco,” said Bougja.

Rugby Africa’s main sponsor APO Group also lauded Bougja with the company’s founder and president Nicolas Pompigne-Mognard noting that rugby was the fastest growing sport on the continent.