NAIROBI, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Kenya is among the six countries from Africa, who have expressed interest to host the 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, and South Africa have also expressed interest in hosting the 2025 IAAF World Championships, the premier track and field competition.
Athletics Kenya (AK) President Jack Tuwei had said that the country had tried to convince IAAF to offer it the 2023 World Championships but the event was awarded to Budapest, Hungary.
"It is true that Kenya's Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohammed has written to the IAAF to register interest in staging the championships which have never taken place in Africa," said Tuwei on Monday.
However, IAAF President Sebastian Coe has offered encouragement to Kenya's proposed bid for the 2025 World Championships.
"We have always supported the idea of the World Championships being held in Africa," IAAF President Coe told reporters.
"We are positively aware of Kenya's idea of hosting the 2025 edition. The country was successful in 2007 and 2017 and we are waiting to receive their bid through CAA (Confederation of African Athletics). The attendance in events held in Africa has always been top," he added.
This comes after the conclusion of this year's event, which was held in Doha, Qatar, in which Kenya clinched the second overall spot after the United States of America by winning five gold, two silver and four bronze medals.
Nairobi hosted a successful IAAF World Under-18 Championships in 2017, attracting record crowds. Kenya's capital is also due to host the 2020 World Under-20 championships in July. Back in 2007, Kenya also hosted the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa.
Amina Mohamed, Kenya's sports cabinet secretary believes the government will do everything to get the stadiums ready, noting that over the years, Kenyan athletes have stopped at nothing to defend the country's athletic standing among other nations.
Morocco and South Africa, with huge sports stadia equivalent to those in European cities, will be a real threat to Kenya's chances of staging the World Championships in 2025.
The IAAF, under its new policy of identifying potential hosts and engaging with them rather than opening a bid process, would open the chance to the African continent though, Queensland Australia is also mooting on the idea to grab the 2025 championships after a good show at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
