By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

October 28 - The headquarters of the African Sports Confederation of Disabled (ASCOD) is to be moved from Cairo to Luanda in Angola, it has been announced.



The move is the brainchild of Angolan Leonel da Rocha Pinto, who was elected President of the ASCOD in February.

The deal is expected to be formally ratified in Bonn this weekend when the Continental Paralympics Committees holds a meeting at the headquarters of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

The ASCOD represents 45 countries.

It was da Rocha Pinto who convened a meeting of African sporting associations and helped form the ASCOD following the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta, where he had arranged for Angola to make their debut in the Games.

The efforts of da Rocha to give Angola's disabled athletes the opportunity to compete at the highest level reached its fruition at the Athens Paralympics in 2004 when visually impaired sprinter Jose Sayovo Armando won three gold medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metres events - breaking the world record for all three in the process.

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February 2010:
 Angolan elected new President of ASCOD