No fewer than 3,000 athletes and 1,500 officials are expected to feature at the 13th edition of the West Africa University Games to be hosted by University of Ilorin from March 27 to April 7.

About 80 universities from 14 West African countries are expected to be represented at the games. They will feature in 14 sporting events – athletics, basketball, badminton, chess, judo, handball, football, swimming, squash, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, hockey and cricket.

A delegation from the university headed by WAUG President, Prof. Lasun Eniola said that the number of participants expected would be a record since the competition began in 1967.

"Since the end of their civil wars, Liberia and Sierra Leone are featuring in this competiton for the first time. We're also expecting about seven universities from Ghana and all countries in the sub-region," Eniola said.

"The last edition held in Ghana had a record attendance of 42 universities; this year's is expected to surpass that, and we're ready to make it a success."

Unilorin has budgeted about N1.2bn for the event and has so far spent over N500m on infrastructure. Eniola said modern facilities have been installed for the competition.

He said, "The issue of security, accommodation and transport have been taken care of. We have enough resources on ground that will cater for all the participants."

The delegation said students of the university would be on break during the games to allow for a hitch-free organisation, even as it has adopted an online registration format of athletes in order to check the incidence of mercenary athletes.