African nation to bid for 2017 world athletics championships

The success of the soccer World Cup in South Africa has inspired the continent to plan a serious bid for the world athletics championships, officials said on Monday.                                           

"Morocco is most likely to bid for the 2017 world championships and, if they do, we think they can win," said African Athletics Confederation (AAC) president Hamad Kalkaba Malboum.       
 

"We are encouraged by the recent FIFA World Cup in South Africa," Kalkaba told reporters ahead of the 17th African athletics championships starting on Wednesday.                                           

"Besides Morocco, we know that South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt can all stage a successful world championships but because Morocco tried the bid for 2015 we think they stand a good chance in 2017," said Kalkaba, a senior officer in the Cameroonian military.                                           
 

The 2011 world championships will be in Daegu, South Korea, while Moscow will stage the event in 2013. London and Beijing have already announced bids for the 2015 championships. The event has never been staged in Africa.                                           

Kalkaba also announced that the first African Cross Country Championships will be in South Africa next year.