A kingdom of beach volley

An international beach volley tournament was held in the city of Itsandra Mdjini from October 31 to November 2, 2025. The five countries of zone 7 of the Indian Ocean which were taking part in the championship are Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion and Seychelles. Mustapha Abdounour is the president of the Comorian federation of volley ball. He is also elected president of the African confederation of volley ball for the Indian Ocean zone since 2024. He is the boss and organizer with his teammate of that sporting event. It’s the second time that an international beach volley for zone 7 was held on the beach of the city. The presidents of the federations of volley ball of the Indian Ocean zone 7 were present to honor the event. Amir is the presenter of the beach volley contest. He is thankful for the companies that sponsored the sporting event. There are Yas (formerly Telma), Kenya airways, Kinaya, Aden water, Retaj hotel, to name a few. In addition, some local enterprises took the opportunity to display their products on the beach during that special weekend. Amir did not forget to thank mama Bairati and Mtsangani neighborhood for providing them all the chairs they need to welcome the visitors on the beach. The beach volley consists of two players for each team. There are teams for women and others for men. The final was held that Sunday. The finalists in the game for women are the Réunion versus the Seychelles. The Réunionese were dressed in black, blue and red undershirts whereas the Seychellois wore the marine blue jersey. The first set was won by the Seychelles team. The Réunionese succeeded in the second set. The women of Seychelles beat the Réunion team in the third and last set by 15 to 12. The final contest for men was between Réunion and Comoros. The first and second referees are respectively from Morocco and Comoros. The young boys of Réunion hardly won the first set by 21 to 19. They also are the winners of the second set by 21 to 16. Thus, the winners of this second edition of beach volley in Itsandra Mdjini are the girls of Seychelles and the boys of Réunion. The sporting event was honored by the presence of many cadres of the Comorian ministry of sports, the sporting federations of the hosting country, the French ambassador in Comoros, some notables from Itsandra Mdjini, and many visitors and tourists. Itsandra Mdjini is well-known for beach volley since the 1950s. According to some elders of the city, the game was start up on the beach of Itsandra by some professors, teachers, and instructors who used to work in the first French public schools built in Moroni and Mitsamiouli in that time. Therefore, the city is considered as the cradle or the kingdom of volley ball in Comoros. It was also an opportunity for the FIVB (International federation of volley ball) to organize a training of 11 Comorian referees, Level 1 from 20 to 24 October in the city of Itsandra. It was an indoor volley ball training conducted by Hassan Outidrarine, an international instructor from Morocco. Certificates of attendance were awarded to the trainees at the end of the tournament. In his closing speech, Mustapha, the president of the Comorian federation of volley ball thanked all the partners and sponsors who made the sporting event possible. “Your solidarity and cooperation mean a lot for us. We are confident and ready to welcome for the first time the Indian Ocean Islands Games which will be held in our country in 2027,” he said. Azali Said Ahmed is one of the cadres of the ministry of transport and tourism. He wishes to promote tourism, especially ecotourism in the country. He has recently been to Japan for the Osaka Expo 2025 in order to boost the Comorian tourism. “When an international sporting event is organized in Comoros, the teams and their delegates become consumers of what is made in our country. Hotel owners, restaurants, craftsmen, craftswomen, traders are the real winners,” he proudly said. A cabaret evening was held at the restaurants of Itsandra beach to close the event with all the guests of the beach volley zone 7 of the Indian Ocean islands. Itsandra Mdjini, November 3, 2025