March 2009 After the Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea also relinquished the organisation of the African junior championships. The African Confederation has since then turned to Mauritius to host the event, which should now be held in Bambous on July 28-31. The 2009 IAAF Dakar meet, to be held on April 18, will be moved from Léopold Sédar Senghor stadium (60 000 seats) to Iba Mar Diop stadium (5000 seats), as uncertainty reigns over the allocation of subsidies from the Senegalese state and Dakar municipality. The 2009 edition of the Brazzaville meet has been cancelled. Bahrain has been trying actively to lure Zimbabwe's star trio sprinters Brian Dzingai and Talkmore Nyongani as well as long jumper Ngonidzashe Makusha to change allegiance and compete for the kingdom. Dzingai is apparently the only one to have requested clearance from the Zimabwean federation, whose position is not clear yet. If FAZ releases the sprinter, Dzingai could represent Bahrain from 2010; otherwise he would have to wait until 2012 before being able to compete for his new country, which could have a discouraging effect. The Moroccan federation removed Said Aouita from his job as national technical director only five months after starting the job. Aouita's relations with FMA president Abdeslam Ahizoune had been deteriorating recently according to Moroccan media.  Murielle Ahoure, winner of the 200m (22.80) at the United States' university championships (NCAA), is the daughter of general Mathias Doué, a former chief of staff of Ivory Coast's Army.   January 2009  Namibia top female runner Helaria Johannes has joined the Namibian Defense Forces in a bid to gain more financial stability. The athlete, who set national records in the half-marathon (70:59) and marathon (2:32:30) in 2008, has six months left of her nine-month defense force training exercise. She won’t  be allowed to attend any competitions during this period but would join the athletics division of the NDF once she graduates.   December 2008 Jean-Sébastien Mbous, was elected new president of Cameroon's federation. He defeated reigning president Ange Sama who was seeking reelection, by 36 votes against 29, while a third candidate, Ndongo, got 9 votes. African athletics lost one of its best technicians with the passing away of Emmanuel Bitanga at age 55, following a long illness. As a sprinter, Bitanga, ran the fastest time by a Cameroonese in the 400m – 46.34 in 1980, a mark that has not been broken since. He then made a highly successful career in coaching, heading Cameroon's athletics before being appointed as deputy head coach (1998) and head coach (2003) of the Dakar IAAF High Performance Training Center, a position he held until 2006 – when health problems forced him to withdraw. He was also president of the Association of African Athletics coaches (AEAA) and a vice-president of the World Association of French-speaking athletics coaches (AMEFA). November 2008 Ethiopian star Kenenisa Bekele could be out up to four month with a stress fracture in his right ankle. It is not sure whether he'll be able to defend his crown at the world cross-country on March 28 in Jordan. The 2009 African Junior Championships will finally take place in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, from July 2 to 5, following the withdrawal of the Seychelles Islands. Rabat (Morocco) was selected to host the 2010 World Athletics Final. Morocco was the only candidate after Poland's withdrawal. The event will take place on September 10-11. Morocco already organized the World Youth championships in 2005. The Seychelles islands have relinquished the organisation of the 2009 African junior championships. Mauritius’ federation is waiting for an answer from the government to its request for subsidies, before announcing if it can step in, Mauritius’journalist Reynolds Quirin informs. The Guinean federation officially released 100m hurdles 2008 African champion Fatmata Fofanah from her commitments with Guinea. The hurdler was frustrated by the lack of financial support from Guinea’s sports authorities and the poor management of the country’s participation in international competitions. After her return from Beijing, she had been sent back from her training camp in Atlanta due to non-payment of the fees. October 2008 Ethiopian distance superstars Tirunesh Dibaba and Sileshi Sihine tied the not in a somptuous wedding that lasted for almost two weeks, end of October. Former marathoner Turbo Tumo died in a road accident that claimed 19 lives, on October 29 in Ethiopia. Tumo, 38, had a personal best of 2:09:00 and claimed victories at Houston's and Eindhoven marathons in 1996. September 2008 2003 800m world champion Djabir Said Guerni, who retired in 2007 due to injuries, has decided to try a comeback at 31. He will start training after the Ramadan in the United Arab Emirates, where he has been working as a coach. His father Zine El Abeddine is also back to coach him and the UAE Al Ain club will provide full support. They announced their retirement at the end of the season: Maria Mutola of Mozambique - (800m: 1:55.19 / 2000 Olympic champion and 1993, 2001, 2003 world champion and multiple medallist at Word and African level) Agnes Samaria of Namibia - (800m: 1:59.15 / 1500m: 4:05.30 2002 Commonwealth bronze medallist and multiple medallist at the African level) - she is an employee of Namibia's Directorate of Sport and also handles a food shop and a development programme. Former middle distance superstar Said Aouita was named technical director of the Moroccan federation in an attempt to give a new impetus to the sport after disappointing results in Beijing (silver for Gharib in the marathon and bronze for Benhassi in the 800m). Said Aouita will replace Mustapha Aouachar. August 2008 Her progression turned out too good to be legit. Kenyan quartermiler Elizabeth Muthoka, who had never run below 52 seconds before clocking 51.56 and 50.82 fin end June, early July, was withdrawn from the Kenyan team before the Games after failing a drug test Former 1500m world record holder Sydney Maree, a South-African born who competed for the United States in the 1980s during the apartheid era, has been sentenced to an effective five years in jail for fraud involving R900 000 (about 116,600 USD). On August 14, the former acting chief executive of the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) was convicted at the Pretoria specialised commercial crime court on two counts of fraud involving the transfer of money from the fund to his personal bank account. The general-secretary of the African Confederation, Senegalese Abdoul Wahab Bâ passed away on August 5, following a long illness. He was 66 years old. July 2008 Moroccan 800 m runner Amina Aït Hammou (2:00.33 in 2008) and her sister Seltana (2:00.87 in 2008) have been suspended for one year after missing three drug tests. Mauritius' quartermiler Jean-François Degrâce was suspended for two years after failing a drug test for norandrosterone on June 28 in Nivelles (Belgium) where he recorded a personal best of 47.09. The athlete blamed food supplements. June 2008 Former Ugandan hurdler Peter Rwamuhanda died of cancer aged 54. He had won the 400m hurdles silver medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games and at African Championships later that year and was also part of the 4x400m team that finished seventh at the 1984 Olympic Games. He had a lifetime best of 49.78 set in July 1978. Madagascar's marathoner Prosper Randriasoalaza, almost 40 years old has decided to put an end to his career. He achieved his best performance at the 2004 Rotterdam marathon (2:18:55). May 2008 Swaziland has lost one of its leading runners after Zakhele Nhlabatsi took his own life on Saturday May 31. He was a member of the South-African club Eskom Gijimas and had amongst other results finished 3rd of the 2006 Swazi Standard Bank half-marathon in 1:07:45. The 2008 season is over for Mauritius long jumper Arnaud Casquette. The silver medallist of the 2007 All-African Games in Algiers (8.10m) sustained knee ligament rupture on May 18 during a triple jump event in Malaysia, where he trains. South Africa's long jump record holder Karin Mey may soon accept international selection, but it seems very unlikely that it will be for South Africa. Mey, who achieved her career's best of 6.93m last July in Bad Langensalza has repeatedly declined selection in 2007 (All-African Games and Osaka World Championships) and announced last January that she was not available for Olympic selection. She belongs to Istanbul's Fenerbahce Athletics team and is apparently hoping to represent Turkey in the Olympics and future championships - informs News24.com A mediation by famous singer Youssou N'Dour is about to solve the several-month deadlock over quartemiler Amy Mbacke Thiam's suspension. The 2001 world champion was sanctioned by a 1-year ban for her discourteous remarks made to Senegalese athetics chiefs at the 2007 Osaka World Championships. Under the singer's guidance, Thiam accepted to meet the president of the Senegalese Federation and then be heard by the federal board on Wednesday 14, which she had refused to to several times in the past few weeks. Reports of the hearing will be transmitted to the federation's management committee that is expected to lift the suspension at its next meeting on Saturday. Senegalese athletics lost one of its key figure as Mamadou Ndiaye - nicknamed "Tokyo" following a memorable 4x400m leg at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics - passed away, aged 69. After serving as a long time national coach and technical director, he was still the African Athletics Confederation competition director at the recently ended African Championships in Addis Ababa. April 2008 Chinese agency Xinhua reports that Nigeria best quartermiler Christy Ekpukhon failed a drug test for an anabolic steroid this winter during a meet in Germany. She had withdrawn from the start of her semi-final at the World indoor championships last month in Valencia. 2004 Olympic triple jump champion Francoise Mbango jumped for the first time since 2004 at a local competition in Yaounde, Cameroon on Saturday 12th. She had a first attempt at 14.05m, then a second at 14.50m, before Ange Sama, the president of the federation forbade the official to measure her following jumps due to Mbango's suspension following her absence at the All-African Games last summer in Algiers. The Local Organization of the African Championships that will take place in Addis Ababa from April 30 to May 4 has just opened a very promising website to follow the competition : www.addis2008.org February 2008 Ghana's long jumper Ignisious Gaisah, 2006 world indoor champion, sustained a serious knee injury for his season's debut at the Athens indoor meet on February 13. Chad's quartermiler Kaltouma Nadjina is back to competition, seven months after the birth of her first child. Vancouver-based Ruky Abdulai, Ghana's record holder for the high jump (1.85m) and the long jump (6.70m), got her Canadian citizenship on January 31st. She now hopes to qualify to the Olympic Games for her new country. January 2008 Zimbabwe's Gabriel Mvumvure, 100m and 200m African junior champion, has been recruited by Louisiana State University, in the United States. Another victim of the Kenyan crisis, 30 year old marathoner Wesley Ngetich - 2:12.10 in 2006 - was killed by a poisoned arrow on January 21. On January 1, Lucas Sang a member of the Kenyan 4x400m relay quartet at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, was stoned to death near Iten in the countrywide riots that have followed the announcement of the presidential elections' results. He was 46 years old