Egypt confirmed to host 2011 Men’s African Club Championship – Volleyball news
The Federation Egyptienne de Volleyball recently disclosed the information that Egypt will host the upcoming 2011 Men’s African Club Championship in the next week.
The competition will run through April 28 to May 7, while the Abdalla El Raysal Hall in Al Ahly Club will host the action. The African Club Championship will serve as the qualification tournament for African teams. A total of 20 teams from all over Africa
will participate in the tournament but just one lucky team will earn the qualification for 2011 FIVB Men’s Club World Championship.
That is what makes the African Club Championship more important for aspiring teams. The tournament was first planned to be held in Morocco.
However, they withdrew from hosting the tournament earlier this week. Morocco withdrew due to the lack of funds as their main sponsor stepped back. The last edition of the African Club Championship was hosted by Morocco though.
Nonetheless, the withdrawal of Morocco created a perfect opportunity for Egypt to get the rights for hosting 2011 African Club Championship. The new host of the tournament, Al Ahly Men’s Volleyball club, has great history attached with the African Club
Championship. The Egyptian team has won most number of titles during the previous years. They also represented Africa in the 2010 FIVB Club World Championship, which was held in Doha, Qatar.
The Egyptian Volleyball Federation timely made the right decision and right choice to take up the responsibility to host this event. It will greatly benefit the home teams. Egypt will be playing with two teams, Al Ahly and Zamalek. Both teams are already
preparing for the ticket to 2011 FIVB Club World Championship. The home courts and familiar conditions will provide them a great edge in the game over visiting teams.
At the same time, Al Ahly and Zamalek also share a great rivalry. They have been featured in the final of the African Club Championship in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
Al Ahly has a better record of winning the African Titles. They have secured nine titles, while Zamalek is known for four title-wins. Apart from hosts, the Kenyan team will also be on board to show some hard spiking. The Kenyan women’s team has done well
during the last season as they captured the African title. The men’s team will also be trying to hit the mark and clinch success this time.
Cameroonian and Algerian teams also have great player-line. They are expected to give out a good performance. Let’s see what 2011 African Club Championship has saved for all these teams.
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