Falls Foundation plans to promote education, the development of athletes

The African Athletics Confederation (CAA) has revealed the plans to establish a basis dedicated to the education and development of African athletes, particularly within universities and high performance training centers.

The president of the CAA, Hamad Kalkaba Malboum, revealed the initiative on Tuesday, while highlighting his discussion with former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta.

He said that the proposed foundation would serve as a long -term strategy to support African athletes beyond the competitive field, focusing both on academic education and sports training.

“We want to establish a basis for developing sports and culture in Africa,” Malboum said.

“Because we believe that sports and culture are a way for Africa to show positively to the world.”

Malboum emphasized that African athletes often lack constant institutional support, especially governments and stakeholders of the private sector.

The Foundation said, aims to fill this void by providing financial resources and infrastructure to help athletes prosper both during and after their sports careers.

He pointed out that CAA has already established four language -based training centers throughout the continent: Nairobi for English -speaking countries, Dakar for Francophone nations, Cairo for Arabic speaking countries and Yaundélólophone nations.

While these centers mainly train officials, some also organize athlete development sessions.

In addition to them, the high -performance centers are already in operation in selected universities, including the University of Port Harcourt in Nigeria, where the head of the world record Tobi Amusan was first discovered, as well as in Costa de Costa D’Ivoire and Keny Juggling

Despite this progress, Malboum acknowledged that financial limitations continue to hinder a broader expansion.

“We don’t have resources to cover all centers correctly,” he said.

“But if we had the media, we could replicate the athlete university model seen in the United States, where the main athletes emerge from educational institutions.”

He also emphasized that investing in youth development is as critical as infrastructure construction as roads or hospitals.

“Preparing our younger generation is essential. We must prioritize the construction of human capacity,” he said.

Malboum also mentioned efforts to combat doping and falsification of age in athletics, asking for a stricter education and responsibility.

“Education must start with the athlete’s entourage: the coach, the doctor, the family. Everyone has a role in the prevention of doping,” he said.

He warned that the federations involved in the falsification of athletes could face the suspension.

During his visit, Malboum praised traditional institutions in the state of Ogun, pointing out their lasting cultural values.

He met with the Alake of Egbaland and expressed admiration for how traditional leadership in parts of Nigeria has been preserved, a contrast with what he described as the loss of such structures in other African countries due to colonization.

The president of the CAA asked African leaders, companies and the media to play a more important role in supporting athletics.

“We cannot always trust people to save our sport,” he said.

“We must prepare together for the future of athletics in Africa.”