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Thursday, February 6, 2025

Tokyo Olympics:10 Nigerian athletes declared ineligible

Blessing Okagbare on her twitter handle said the following “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 flaw and we athletes, are always at the receiving end of the damages”.

“They were busy fighting over power, exercising their pride over puma contract/ 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.”

To put the comments in context, Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) ruled that some competitors will be unable to take part in Tokyo because of non-compliance with out-of-competition drug testing requirements in the run-up to the Games. The AIU said “Nigeria is the most affected country, not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 for 10 athletes. Nigeria was included in Category A at the start of 2020 following a continued period of weak domestic testing levels.”

Nigerians have criticised officials of the AFN and sports ministry for their incompetence. The AFN has taken responsibility for the failings and claim to have put in place “appropriate measures to comply with rule 15 of the anti-doping rules of World Athletics”.

“The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred during the process and reassures Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted,” the AFN said in a statement.

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