Senegal has officially been given hosting rights for the 2019 FIBA Women’s African Nations Championship (AfroBasket) which takes place later this year.
The West African nation is the most successful country in the history of the biannual competition and will host the tournament for the first time since 2007.
The 2019 Women’s AfroBasket is to be held at the recently built 15,000 capacity Dakar Arena in Senegal’s capital, Dakar.
Prior to the official announcement by basketball’s world governing body FIBA, Mali and Madagascar were in the running to host the games.
This year’s competition is scheduled to run from August 9 to August 18 with 12 nations set to compete including the newly named host.
Senegal qualified automatically to compete in the tournament after finishing second at the 2017 Championship behind Nigeria.
Reigning continental champions Nigeria, Mali and Mozambique secured automatic qualification after finishing in the top four spots.
Cameroon and Cape Verde in recent times booked their spots after emerging winners of two legged ties against DR Congo and Guinea respectively.
Zimbabwe and Angola will battle in the latest round of qualifiers this weekend.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM on Twitter
