Athletics
Blessing Okagbare blames AFN for Tokyo Olympics ban
Blessing Okagbare has blamed the Athletics Federation of Nigeria for the unfortunate disqualification of some members of the Nigerian Olympics team.
Less than 24 hours ago, ten Nigerian athletes were disqualified by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), a regulatory body that handles doping issues in sports.
The body claimed that the affected athletes had failed to meet the minimum testing requirements for the competition.
As a result, Okagbare blamed the Athletic Federation of Nigeria for allowing suh an avoidable incident to occur.
She claimed that the Federation had been busy fighting for power, focusing on endorsement deals and sponsorships instead of focusing on the athletes themselves.
Okagbare, who was not among the disqualified athletes, lamented that the athletes were always at the recieving end of such mishaps which have continued to reoccur over the years in major competitions.
The Delta-born sprint queen who stated this in a tweet, insisted that the Nigerian sport system is flawed, adding that it needs people of expertise to run its administrative duties.
She said: “I have said it before and I will say it again. If you do not know the sport, not passionate about it/us [the athletes], then you have no business there as an administrator. The sport system in Nigeria is so flawed and we athletes are always at the receiving end of the damages.
“They were busy fighting over power, exercising their pride over Puma contracts/ kits forgetting their major responsibility “THE ATHLETES ”. It’s sad that this cycle keeps repeating itself and some people will come out to say I am arrogant for speaking my truth. It is my CAREER.”
The ten athletes banned from the competitions include; Knowledge Omovoh, Ruth Usoro, Favor Ofili, Chidi Okezie, Chioma Onyekwere and Annette Echikunwoke, Rosemary Chukwuma, Glory Patrick, Yinka Ajayi and Tima Godbless.
Team Nigeria is yet to win any medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.
