The African nations of Botswana, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia remain in the running to host the 2022 Youth Olympic Games (YOG), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed Wednesday during an Executive Board meeting in Lausanne. It is expected that the respective nations will forward capital cities Gaborone, Abuja, Dakar and Tunis as proposed hosts. Tunisia’s candidacy has now been reinstated after the IOC had suspended the evaluation of the bid in May due to its discrimination against Israeli athletes. The IOC approved the candidatures following a productive dialogue phase where “three-day visits were made by IOC experts to each country to gather information on the motivations for hosting the YOG and on the potential master plan, and to make key site visits to existing fields of play,” a statement read. “The visits involved preparing feasibility reports on existing indoor multi-purpose arenas, potential sites for outdoor festivals, temporary facilities and accommodation solutions.” The IOC decided in February to open the 2022 YOG to African nations only, ensuring the continent would have the opportunity to host its first Olympic event, and have IOC experts integrally involved in the process. The Youth Olympics, first launched in Singapore in 2010, is being retooled for…