Ecclesia Group to Set Up Africa Base

CLACKAMAS, Ore. — A controversial athletic group founded in Los Angeles says it will establish a training center in the Free Zone of Equatorial Guinea in hopes of hosting the 2000 Olympic Games on the African continent.

Ecclesia Athletic Assn. spokeswoman Carolyn Van Brunt said Emmett Cash, president of Eaton House Industries, awarded the group land in the Free Zone on which they will build a training center for would-be Olympic competitors. Van Brunt said the group has sent a “preliminary, but serious formal petition” to enter a bid for hosting the games to International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Members of the Ecclesia Athletic Assn. attempted to set up a training site in the rural town of Sandy, Oregon, earlier this spring. Neighbors became suspicious of the group when several dozen adults and children moved onto the site before temporary zoning permits had been issued.