NAIROBI, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Africa Rugby has added Nigeria to the 13 teams that will battle it out for the Tokyo 2020 rugby Sevens ticket.
Continental champions Uganda will put their title on the line and must chalk up one more enemy in Nigeria even as they target Kenya scalp in quest to win their maiden ticket to the Olympic Games.
"Rugby Africa has confirmed Nigeria's participation at this year's continental Olympic qualifiers, which will be held in South Africa in November. This follows Nigeria's superb performance at the Africa North regional Sevens tournament in Cote d'Ivoire where they claimed a massive 59-13 test match win against Niger Republic in Niamey last year," said Khaled Babbou, new President of Rugby Africa, in a statement.
With host South Africa team expected to finish in top four in the World Series, together with New Zealand, USA and Fiji, and the quartet qualify directly to the Olympics, the Africa battle will be done to the 14 teams.
Burkina Faso are waiting on the side lines to fill in the gap should South Africa excel at the World Series. Nigeria team manager Dele Coker says they will be ready for the continental challenge.
"We are happy for the chance to participate in the Olympics qualifiers, the Africa Sevens later this year. We will ensure our best players are available, ensure proper preparations and aim to go far at the tournament." Coker told Rugby Africa.
This competition will allow one of the participating teams to qualify for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, in 2020.
The participating teams are Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Madagascar, Zambia, Tunisia, Senegal, Morocco, Namibia, Ghana, Botswana, Mauritius, Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria.
Kenya head coach Paul Murunga believes his side will overcome their poor form and win the Africa lot to return to the Olympics after debuting in Rio in 2016.
"Kenya team is on a rebound after a season of poor performance at the World Series circuit. The senior players are back and we hope to build on it," said Murunga.
South Africa with a fourth place finish in the World Sevens Series, which has two legs in Paris and London remaining, may not participate at the Africa Sevens if they amass enough points and qualify for the Olympics automatically.
The competition will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa from Nov. 9-10.
