NAIROBI, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lack of a second indoor gym has locked Kenya out of bidding to host the 2019 men's and women's African Nations Volleyball Championships.
The two competitions are critical in selecting the teams that will represent Africa at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup in Japan.
The men's World Cup will be from Oct. 1-15 while the women's event will run from Sept. 14-29, featuring 12 teams including the hosts.
The FIVB Volleyball World Cup is one of the three major volleyball championships in the world, and Japan has been hosted every edition of the tournament since 1977.
Kenya has only one functioning indoor gym facility of international standard in Nairobi. However, the Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) on Monday opened up the bidding process for hosting the 2019 African Nations Volleyball Championships and said only cities with two or more indoor facilities will qualify.
CAVB President Dr. Amr Elwani, in a statement, said the process will determine the host for all CAVB senior championships in November 2019.
"CAVB is determined to ensure and sustain the implementation of competitive bidding process in selecting the host for all African future events," said Elwani on Monday.
The continental body is seeking consistency in the way they award championships.
Previously, the African body would hand pick any country without assessing its facilities to stage its competition. However, starting in 2019, a transparent and open bidding process will be put in place.
"We are keen to see consistency on how these events are organized and presented, as well as providing CAVB and national federations the opportunity for greater development and marketing and ensuring suitable playing conditions to the players," said Elwani.
The two tournaments will be used as qualifiers to the 2019 FIVB World Cup for men and women, respectively.
"CAVB thus, invites all interested national federations or cities to submit their bid to host either of the competition, the premier in continental volleyball," said CAVB Press officer Tarek Al-Adwar.
Interested cities are free to submit bids for both the men's and the women's events but on separate application forms. They may also submit independent bids for either of the championship.
The winner of the bid shall pay to CAVB a consolidated minimum fee of 3.06 billion shillings (30,000 U.S. dollars).
The women's 2019 African Volleyball Championship shall be held before the end of July while the men's tourney will be before Aug. 10.
"CAVB will appoint inspection team to visit and inspect the facilities for the organization before the awards are confirmed," said Al-Adwar.
"The host will also be required to guarantee availability of at least two separate competition halls and one training hall," Al-Adwar said.
