The sporting world had a lot of expectations for 2020 as they looked forward to big sporting moments. Punters on Betway were expecting great opportunities for sports betting in Africa and beyond.
It was the year of the Olympics, the African Women’s Cup of Nations, and the Euros. Nevertheless, African women’s sports showed some resilience. In this post, you will read about some of the key developments in women’s sport in Africa in 2020.
Football
Women’s football suffered a significant setback when event organizers canceled the 2020 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations. However, the 56 African member associations received funding to
help develop the sport. Each African Football Federation received a million dollars to be spent specifically on women’s football.
Other big news from African women’s football was African teams attracting some of the best coaches. For instance, American coach Randy Waldrum signed a deal with Nigeria; she was the head coach of Houston Dash, US Women’s league club. On the other hand, Morocco made a deal with Reynald Pedros.
Tennis
In January, Ons Jabeur wrote her name in history books when she became the first North African player to get to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam since Hicham Arazi of Morocco achieved the same feat in 2004 in the same event. She reached this milestone in style by beating former world number one Caroline Wozniacki. This was her last match before she retired.
Athletics
Despite the cancellation of the 2020 Olympics, African long-distance runners still got the opportunity to shine. Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir will remember 2020 as the year she set two half-marathon world records.
Peres broke her own record, which she set in 2016 at the World Half Marathon Championship in Poland. She also triumphed in the Valencia Marathon, where she clocked a women’s course record. Her achievement saw her move to 5th place on the all-time ranking.
Cricket
African women’s cricket was affected by the pandemic. Several ODIs and T20Is were either canceled or rescheduled. But, in August, the International Cricket Commission acknowledged Rwanda’s outstanding achievements in growing women’s cricket.
The Rwanda Cricket Association received the 100% Cricket Participation Programme of the Year. They won the award because of the association’s partnership with Cricket Builds Hope to champion for social change in rural Rwanda.
Women in Sports Leadership
Women also scored some victories in leadership as they got the chance to lead two African sports giants. Tanzania’s Simba FC appointed Barbara Gonzalez as the club’s new CEO. Bestine Kazidi was appointed the Club President of Congo’s AS Vita.
The two women made history as it is the first time in the African clubs’ history that women have taken the top jobs. Punters on Betway will be watching to see how the women transform two of their favorite teams. Also, African Volleyball Confederation (CAVB) appointed Bochra, a former international player, to be its president. She became the Confederation’s first female president.
Bring on 2021
The achievements of 2020 provide the best platform for African women sports to grow to the
next level. Fans should expect to see more sporting activity.
