The webinar was organised by SIREM, a Senegalese agency specialising in sports, international relations and event management.

It was held as part of a project entitled Africa Talks Sports, with the topic for the session "COVID-19 impact on African para-athletes performance and coaches support in the lead-up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games."

The webinar was held via Zoom and Facebook Live and was moderated by Leon Flelser, vice-president of the African Paralympic Committee.

Three current para-athletes spoke during the event - Egyptian swimmer Malak Hussein Abdelshafi, athlete Marcio Miguel Monteiro Fernandes, who represents Cape Verde and Gambian powerlifter Modon Gamo.

Former Olympic and Paralympic swimmer South African Natalie Du Toit also spoke at the virtual event, as did coaches of para-athletes and experts within the para-sport field.

The forum discussed the need to find new and innovative solutions to mitigate the negative effects of coronavirus on African Para athletes and National Paralympic Committees.

It was highlighted how Para-athletes across Africa were particularly looking forward to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, which were previously scheduled to begin tomorrow.

Athletes will now have to wait an extra 12 months as the event has been rescheduled to August 24 to September 5 2021 owing to the pandemic.

Coaches also highlighted during the forum that they believed solutions were needed to assist athletes who currently lack internet access.