A plebiscite. Abderrahamane Hammad, the bronze medalist in the high jump at the Sydney 2000 Games, was elected over the last weekend to the presidency of the Algerian Olympic Committee (COA). The former athlete, aged 43, won with a very comfortable lead over his two rivals. He obtained 105 votes, compared to 32 votes for Mabrouk Kerboua and only 5 votes for Soumia Fergani. The new president of the COA will end the mandate of the former holder of the position, Mustapha Berraf, who resigned last May. A mandate which will end with the end of the Tokyo Olympic Games next August. A fourth candidate, Sid Ali Lebib, the former Minister of Youth and Sports, was also aiming for the seat of president. But he withdrew from the race on the eve of the election, justifying his renunciation by the absence of the health measures required by the public authorities.
