Athletics
NIGERIAN SPORT – NEVER BEEN THIS BAD!
BY SEGUN ODEGBAMI
These are very dreary times for Nigerian sports. For those of us that have been a part of several generations, the pain is deep.
I was an active participant at the highest level from the mid 1970s when Nigerian sports were on a global ascendancy.
That was when Nigeria started an authentic dominance of Africa in Track and Field, table tennis, (lawn) tennis, boxing, weightlifting and wrestling, joined the elite forces in African football at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ethiopiaand went to the Montreal Olympic Games with some of the best athletes in the world in different events and sports (in Track and Field, and amateur boxing) with realistic chances of carting away some medals.
It is very painful to wake up every week these days, particularly as I write my column, to the reality of the horror that has become the present state of Nigerian sports.
Take the past week for example.
Nigerian athletes just returned from the World Relays in Japan. The event was the qualifying meet for 2020 in Tokyo, Japan.
The Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, who was with the contingent reported that they were humiliated by the organisers through the poor treatment meted openly only to the Nigerian team.
He described the reception as ‘third class’, and the major cause of the team’s woeful performance and failure to record even a single win.
Unlike all the other teams, Nigeria was taken very far away from the venue and the centre of activities and accommodated in a very low-class hotel.
But why?
The belief now is that it has to do with the two-year-old tiff between the IAAF and the AFN reported in several social media platforms.
The reports say that two years ago the
AFN was erroneously paid $150,000 instead of $20,000 as its annual grant by the
IAAF.
Since then it has failed to refund the excess of $130,000. The AFN has not reacted to the allegation. Neither explaining what happened to the money nor refunding it. According to a letter making the social media rounds, even a pledge to repay given by the sports minister of Nigeria some months ago in Asaba, Nigeria, was not redeemed. Meanwhile, the man may soon be on his way out of the sports ministry.
Nigerian athletes may, indeed, have had
to pay the price for administrative indiscretion, punished for the AFN’s
ineptitude.
A big question menacingly hangs in the air: ‘what happened to the funds’? No one is accepting responsibility, and no one is providing an answer. So, Nigeria, with her innocent athletes, suffer.
This past week, the same international body, the IAAF, de-listed Asaba as host of the African Athletics Track and Field championship because of the shambolic arrangements, the poor state of equipment and facilities, and the technical deficiencies observed glaringly during the competition.
All the results recorded at the event have been cancelled, a total waste of time, effort, and resources. It is a terrible advertisement for Nigeria.
With the 2020 Olympic Games just around the corner, not much is happening to reassure Nigerians of a possible good outing for the country.
This was a country that used to be a part of the final lineups in the sprints, jumps, sprint relays, boxing, and even football at several Olympics.
From 1976 to 2006, a period of some 30 years and 8 different Olympics, Nigeria presented some athletes that were either winning medals or had the capability to do so.
From 1984 Nigeria actually started to win Olympic medals. In 1996 it won an unprecedented number including its first, two Gold medals.
Since then her fortune in medals has been dwindling. How did Nigeria descend into this very sorry pass?
For those of us that have been a part of the history of Nigerian sports since 1976 the present times are the undoubted worst in our country’s history with stories so ugly, they benumb the mind.
For 2003 All African Games hosted in Abuja, Nigeria started to build Africa’s best and most modern Doping Test Centre.
Sixteen years since the event ended the centre is unfinished, its carcass abandoned, with all the resources spent on it going down the drain in a colossal waste.
No one is held to account for what happened. In that same year, Nigerian administrators hired ‘mercenary’ athletes to represent some African countries, in specially identified uncommon sports, to compete against Nigeria as a grand strategy to boost Nigeria’s medal haul.
The mission was that the country would top the medals table in the continent. The country did, people were rewarded and the country celebrated a scam.
For several years now, the country has failed to organize a proper national sports festival, an event designed and started in 1973 to unite the youths of the country through healthy social interaction and sports competition, whilst identifying and developing the best among them discovered during the games.
The last one that held in December 2018 in Abuja may go down in the history of the country as the worst sports event ever hosted as a result of its meaninglessness and remote distance from the objectives for which the festival was established in the first place.
It is imperative to call for a total review of the vision, aims and objectives of the sports festival that has been distorted through time, with little or nothing derived from it any more.
The London Marathon broke the record for the highest number of finishers in a marathon, with 59,830 participants completing the course to surpass the mark of 59,226 at last year’s New York City event.
Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe shattered the world record to become the first man to run the marathon in under two hours, followed by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who also breached the two-hour barrier on Sunday.
“To then break the record of the largest number of finishers in the history of marathons underlines the inspirational nature of the London Marathon. We are incredibly proud to have set a new Guinness World Record,” said Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events.
In the women’s race, three women ran under two hours and 16 minutes in a single race for the first time ever, as Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her title by shattering her own women ‘s-only world record
-Reuters
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Nigeria has aligned with the global athletics community in supporting World Athletics’ decision to reject 11 applications for nationality transfer to Türkiye, a move that includes sprinter Favour Ofili and signals a broader clampdown on the recruitment of foreign athletes.
Diamond League – Final – Zurich – Zurich, Switzerland – August 27, 2025 Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell in action during the men’s shot put final REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
The ruling, announced on Thursday by World Athletics’ Nationality Review Panel, affects athletes from multiple countries and was based on findings that the applications were part of a coordinated, government-backed effort to bolster Türkiye’s international competitiveness ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Rather than a single case, Ofili’s situation forms part of a wider group that includes five Kenyan athletes — among them former marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei — and four Jamaicans, including Olympic medallists Roje Stona and Rajindra Campbell. Russian heptathlete Sophia Yakushina was also among those denied eligibility.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s Discus Throw Victory Ceremony – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 08, 2024. Gold medallist Roje Stona of Jamaica celebrates on the podium. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigie
London Marathon 2024 – Women’s Elite Press Conference – London, Britain – April 18, 2024 Kenya’s Brigid Kosgei poses for a photograph ahead of the London Marathon REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo
World Athletics stated that approving the applications would undermine key principles guiding the transfer of allegiance, particularly the need to maintain the integrity and credibility of national representation in global competitions.
“The panel found that the applications formed part of a coordinated recruitment strategy… to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts,” the governing body said.
For Nigeria, the decision is being viewed not as an isolated intervention but as part of a wider effort to protect countries that invest in developing athletes from grassroots to elite level, only to risk losing them to wealthier nations offering financial incentives.
Officials note that the rejection highlights growing concerns about the commercialisation of national allegiance in sport, where athletes are increasingly targeted through structured programmes designed to fast-track international success.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has previously warned against such trends, stressing that nationality transfers must reflect genuine national ties rather than transactional arrangements.
The regulations governing athlete transfers were tightened in 2019 to prevent abuse and ensure fairness, following increasing cases of athletes switching allegiance under financially driven circumstances.
Although the applications were rejected, World Athletics clarified that the affected athletes — including Ofili — remain eligible to compete in one-day meetings, road races and club competitions, as well as live and train in Türkiye. However, they are barred from representing the country at major championships such as the Olympic Games and World Championships.
The decision is widely seen as a significant moment for global athletics, reinforcing the principle that national representation should be built on identity and development rather than financial inducement.
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A former president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Solomon Ogba, has commended World Athletics for rejecting the application by Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili to switch allegiance to Türkiye.
World Athletics, through its Nationality Review Panel, on Thursday turned down Ofili’s request to represent the European nation, citing concerns over the integrity of international competitions and the growing trend of athlete recruitment driven by financial incentives.
Reacting to the decision, Ogba described the ruling as a victory for fairness and a strong message in defence of developing nations that invest heavily in nurturing athletic talent.
“This is justice not just for Nigeria but for many developing countries that work tirelessly to groom athletes, only for them to be lured away by wealthier nations,” Ogba said.
The panel, in its report, noted that granting the transfer would undermine key principles, including safeguarding the credibility of national representation and discouraging the systematic recruitment of foreign athletes for global competitions.
Ofili’s case was one of 11 applications submitted by the Turkish Athletics Federation, which World Athletics linked to a broader government-backed strategy to strengthen its team ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Despite having obtained Turkish citizenship and signing a lucrative club contract, Ofili remains ineligible to compete for Türkiye in major competitions such as the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
Ogba singled out World Athletics President Sebastian Coe for praise, describing him as a consistent ally of developing countries.
“How can a country nurture an athlete from grassroots level to elite status, only for another nation that showed no prior interest to come with financial inducements and take them away? It is unfair and must be discouraged,” he said.
The former AFN boss also advised athletes to remain focused and avoid making career decisions driven solely by short-term financial gains. He cited global stars such as Usain Bolt, Julien Alfred, and Eliud Kipchoge, who achieved success while representing their home countries.
Ogba further warned athletes against external pressures from managers and associates, urging them to consider the long-term implications of switching nationality.
“Many athletes who left Nigeria often return after retirement seeking support. The reality is that your home country offers opportunities beyond competition — as coaches, administrators, and mentors,” he added.
He concluded by urging Nigerian athletes to remain loyal and committed, stressing that while opportunities abroad may appear attractive, long-term security and identity remain tied to their country of origin.
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