Francophonie Games - Football, Basketball Set the Ball Rolling

Though the official opening ceremony for the 7th edition of the Francophonie Games is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 7, 2013, competitions in the collective sports disciplines begin as early as today, August 5th. Cameroon joins the fray on Friday in football and basketball. Despite their late arrival in France due to delays in obtaining visas, the footballers will be the first to start competing as they will lock horns with Morocco in their first group game on Thursday before moving ahead to clash with Burkina Faso in the second group game on Sunday, September 8th. The Lions play their last group game on Tuesday September 10th against the Saos of Chad.

In basketball, Cameroon will begin their campaign with a match against Cote d'Ivoire today in what pundits consider as a remake of the quarter finals of the just ended Afro Basket tournament in Abidjan. Cameroon was butted out from the competition by Cote d'Ivoire and the encounter will be an opportunity for Cameroon to take her revenge on Cote d'Ivoire.

Cameroon is taking part in the competition in six of the seven sports disciplines retained for the competition including athletics, basketball, football, judo, table tennis and wrestling. The games also have a cultural dimension with seven disciplines equally up for competition.

Meanwhile the opening ceremony of the games laced under the sign of solidarity, will be presided over by the French president, François Hollande in the company of the Secretary General of the Francophonie, Abdou Diouf alongside a host of ministers from the Francophonie member countries. The choreography will display the colours of the five continents in reference to the emblem of the organization. It will be marked by artistic performances and fireworks at the "Promende des Anglais" in Nice-France. The Francophonie Games was created to promote closer ties among countries who share French as an official language.