Prominently flying high among the flags that have been hoisted at the Kenyatta University in Nairobi Kenya, are two flags – the Ghana flag and the flag of the University for Development Studies.

The UDS team, made up of Football players and athletes were among hundreds of other athletes who were greeted upon their arrival at the Games Village on the premises of the Kenyatta University in Nairobi. Most had travelled long distances, and for many the journey was their first to Kenya.

An estimated 2,000 University student athletes from 40 African countries are expected to arrive in Nairobi, for the 10th Federation of African Sports Universities Games.

The Multi-Sports event, which will kick start on 6th June 2022 and is expected to run until 10th June 2022, was initially scheduled for 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UDS team is led by the Director of Sports, Mr. Ibrahim Tanko. At a brief but colorful ceremony to welcome all participating Universities from across Africa, Team UDS, through its leader, Mr. Ibrahim Tanko received some paraphernalia from the host University.

The Director of Sports at UDS is confident that the team will make the UDS family proud at the games. Speaking to the team after the welcome ceremony, he advised them to have enough rest and to focus on the reason for which they are in Nairobi and not allow themselves to be distracted peripheral issues.

The stand-in captain of the UDS football team, Mustapha Fuseini, believes that the team spirit will take them to victory. “We are a family rather than a team. We know each other really well. We are looking forward to winning but also to making new friends.”

The All-Africa University Games (FASU Games) is organised once every two years. The previous editions were held in Ghana - 1974, Kenya - 1978, political instability across Africa affected the events until its revival in Nigeria - 2004, South Africa - 2006, Uganda - 2008, Namibia – 2012, Kenya-2014, South Africa 2016 and Ethiopia 2018.

History has it that the FASU games started when in 1951, when two West African Universities, namely University of Ghana and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in a quest to foster brotherhood and positive competition, started a bilateral annual sporting competition. The games grew into a continental competition incorporating other higher education institutions in Africa.

Until 2016, National University Teams used to represent their countries. However, that format has since been changed to allow individual universities from various African countries to participate.

The students from UDS will be competing in Athletics and football. The games will also be used to determine Africa’s representative teams to the FISU University World Cup Soccer 2023 for both men and women to be held in Jinjiang, China.

Story by:
Abdul-Hayi Moomen