Good news for volleyball. Russia won't be qualifying for Sydney via the African Championships. Not surprisingly a cloud of controversy overshadowed the 1996 qualifying tournament in Nigeria when the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) allowed Russia to participate in the African event.

With their technical superiority over their weaker African opponents, Russia clinched the only berth and, bizarrely, travelled to Atlanta as the African representatives. Kenya finished second. The qualifying tournament held in Nairobi in January of this year was for the first time restricted to African teams. It attracted six countries - Kenya, Cameroon, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tunisia.

Kenya emerged as champions, winning all their matches and beating Cameroon 3-0 in the final to qualify as the first African representatives in the Olympic Games.