Athletics
CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS TRAIL ELECTION OF 1ST IAAF FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT
Ximena Restrepo was chosen as the first female vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Wednesday but the election was overshadowed by the late decision to prevent the United Arab Emirates’ Ahmed Al Kamali from standing.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) announced he had been suspended for a “potential violation of the IAAF Candidacy Rules and Integrity Code of Conduct”.
The decision to ban Al Kamali, President of the UAE Athletics Federation and an attorney at law, from standing for vice-president and the IAAF Council was taken so late that he had already arrived here for the vote and officials had to remove his accreditation from him.
It is believed that the AIU had been investigating allegations of corruption against Al Kamali for several weeks and interviewed him in the Qatari capital last night.
Sebastian Coe, himself re-elected for a second term as IAAF President today, claimed that he did not find out about the decision until a few minutes before the Congress was due to begin and did not know what the specific allegations were.
But, in 2015, when he was elected as a member of the IAAF Council in Beijing, Al Kamali was forced to deny allegations he had offered delegates Rolex watches in an attempt to win votes at the Confederation of African Athletics Congress.
He denied the claims.
Restrepo, the first Colombian to win an Olympic medal in athletics when she claimed a bronze in the 400 metres at Barcelona 1992, was elected as the first female vice-president in the IAAF’s 117-year history.
The 50-year-old, now a citizen of Chile, was elected ahead of Canada’s Abby Hoffman, the 1963 and 1971 Pan American Games 800m gold medallist and 1966 Commonwealth Games 880 yards champion, and The Netherlands’ Sylvia Barlag, who finished 10th in the pentathlon at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
Restrepo polled 85 votes with Hoffman getting 68 and Barlag 53.
“Ximena is a former athlete which is tremendously helpful when you’re driving the sport forward,” Coe said.
“I am delighted that we have for the very first time elected a female vice-president and that she will be joined by seven other women on Council.
“This is a historic moment.”
Coe had initiated a change in the IAAF constitution following his election in Beijing four years ago to ensure that there would be a female vice-president.
“I’m really honoured to take this position,” said Restrepo.
“It’s a great moment for me and for my country.
“I would like to thank you, Seb, because this was only made possible because of you and the changes made to the constitution.
“I think we, as women, now have more opportunities than before.
“I just hope I can do a good job.
“I’d like to thank all of the Member Federations who voted for me.
“I hope I can be all that they expected me to be.”
Restrepo is joined as IAAF vice-president by Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka, Norfolk Island’s Geoffrey Gardner and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud.
Bubka, who held the post of senior IAAF vice-president having lost out for President to Coe in 2015, and Gardner were elected with 139 and 105 votes respectively.
But Cuba’s double Olympic gold medallist Alberto Juantorena, elected as a vice-president in Beijing four years ago, lost his position.
He was beaten by Prince Nawaf in a run-off after both polled 71 votes.
In the second vote, Prince Nawaf received 106 votes to Juantorena’s 100.
Juantorena did, however, win one of the 13 seats on the IAAF Council.
Hoffman and Barlag also retained their places on the Council – meaning there will be a record eight women on the sport’s ruling executive.
Restrepo, Hoffman and Barlag will be joined by Italy’s Anna Riccardi and Morocco’s Nawal El Moutawakel, who also retained their places, and newcomers Nan Wang, vice-director of the Chinese Athletics Association, and Beatrice Ayikoru, secretary general of the Ugandan Athletics Federation.
The final female member of the Council will be a representative of the IAAF Athletes’ Commission, expected to be announced in November.
Hiroshi Yokokawa, President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, is another newly-elected member of the IAAF Council less than a year before Tokyo is due to host the Olympic Games.
The 72-year-old businessman, the former executive vice-president at Osaka Gas Co Ltd, earned more votes than any of his rivals with 142.
Also elected to the Council for the first time was America’s Willie Banks, silver medallist in the triple jump at the 1983 IAAF World Championships, and Spain’s Raul Chapado, another former triple jumper who competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
The list of debutants was completed by Dobromir Karamarinov, the first vice-president of European Athletics.
Adille Sumariwalla, President of the Athletics Federation of India, who competed in the 100m at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, retained his place on the Council.
The 61-year-old, now a successful media tycoon in India, had earlier withdrawn from the race for IAAF vice-president.
The IAAF Council is completed by Antti Pihlakoski, President of the Finnish Athletics Federation.
The 58-year-old, a former middle-distance runner, polled 125 votes, more than anyone except Yokokawa.
insidethegames has contacted Al Kamali for comment.
BY DANLADI BAKO
Sports and indeed global athletics have been the cynosure of quite a huge community of track and field afficionados in the last nine days at the Tokyo World Athletics finals.
The global athletics fraternity congregates annually to celebrate new world beaters and champions.
Athletes spend a large amount of time, energy and resources to train, attracting the best coaches and utilizing some of the high impact facilities in developing qualifying times for their individual events.
So many nations facilitate the upscaling and upgrading of their athletes’ mentality, physique and performance standing through investments in the training and welfare of their high-profile athletes by providing grants, scholarships and appreciable reward systems.
These have been in short supply in Nigeria and indeed within the developing world where the priorities of most governments are education, health, poverty and so many other development challenges.
However, the benefits of investing in sports are unquantifiable especially on the world global diplomatic stage, unassailable visibility and an incredible reputation unachievable in so many other areas of human existence. In the eighties and 90s the Americans literally ruled the sprints with female 100 meters legend Florence Griffiths – Joyner and 400 meters world champion Michael Johnson.
Just like America used the movies to show Americans as the world best, sportsmen like basketball’s Michael Jordan and boxing’s Muhammad Ali put America on the pinnacle of human capacity for endurance, determination, strategic planning and near perfect execution.
America might have the size and population above 200 million so it’s success can be expected, however Jamaica an island of 150 miles by 50 miles has gone beyond exporting Reggae’s global icons like Bob Marley and Alton Ellis to producing 100 meters legends Usain Bolt, Sherry Ann Fraser-Price and Marlene Ottey thereby winning international recognition and inevitable public reckoning far beyond most African countries.
Now a land locked southern African sub-continent country Botswana with less than the population of Lagos State just on Sunday won the 4 x 400 men’s relay gold at the Tokyo 2025 games even after picking a few other medals through individual athletes Tebogo et al.
The Tokyo games have come and gone with Tobi Amusan putting Nigeria on the medals table with her 100 meters Silver medal. Ajayi’s efforts in the 100 meters men’s final was also commendable.
For me the highest point was the super- human diminutive Kenyan Faith Kipyegon in the 1500 metres clinching gold and 5000 metres silver.
Another great spectacle was the exploits of American idol Noah Lyle who anchored the last leg of the 4 x100 metres gold winning quartet.
Lyle won the 200 metres gold as well becoming one of the audaciuos and eye-catching supreme athletes of Tokyo 2025. Mention must be made of Sweden’s Armand Mondo who broke the pole vault world record thrice in two days.
So when and how would Nigeria get to these towering heights of conquering the world?
The fact is that we once had Olympic and World Athletics finalists like Innocent Egbunike (400m) , Chidi Imo (100 and 200m), Yusuf Alli (Long jump) and Falilat Ogunkoya (400m) although it was the American University collegiate structure that groomed them to become world beaters with little or no input from the home government.
Once in a long while a training grant of $50,000 gets handed to them in preparation for Olympic games to pay their coaches and for utilizing training facilities abroad. Even Ezekiel Nathaniel and Oyinkansola Ajayi are still beneficiaries of the American University collegiate structure.
The aforementioned names who also schooled and trained in the United States are still very much around especially Yusuf Alli, Falilat and Mary Onyali.
The authorities need to device the appropriate strategies to achieve podium standings in the nearest immediate future.
All the products of the National Youth Games and the School Sports Federation games should be drafted into a growth enhancement program, hire some of the best Athletics coaches from around the world and ensure the construction and maintenance of high-performance pitches and gymnasia.
The Sports Federations must be populated with patriotic and passionate sports men who are brimming with enthusiasm, desire and creativity.
President Tinubu did not only resuscitate the National Sports Commission, he gave an unprecedented 12 billion naira to the Sports Ministry for AFCON and other tournaments earlier this year so we have a listening President who can restore our lost glory in sports and athletics in particular. Nigeria must reclaim its podium standing capability as soon as possible.
Danladi Bako, OON was Senior Special Assistant to former Minister of Youth and Sports as well as one-time Chairman Sokoto State Football Association.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
By KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria’s silver medal finish at the Tokyo 2025 World Athletics Championships once again highlighted the country’s roller-coaster fortunes on the global stage.
While the podium placement ensured Nigeria did not return empty-handed, the overall medal count has remained stagnant in recent years compared to other rising athletics nations.
At the Doha 2019 Championships, Team Nigeria endured a barren outing, failing to register a single medal. Three years later in Oregon 2022, Ese Brume broke the drought with a stunning gold in the women’s long jump — Nigeria’s first-ever world title in the event.
The momentum continued into Budapest 2023, where world record holder Tobi Amusan claimed silver in the women’s 100m hurdles, cementing Nigeria’s presence among the elite hurdlers. In Tokyo this year, the nation repeated the feat in the same event, albeit again settling for silver.
A comparative glance at the last four editions shows a troubling trend: Nigeria has not improved its medal tally, with just one medal each in 2022, 2023, and 2025.
This raises urgent questions about depth, consistency, and investment in talent development beyond the few star performers.
Comparative Medal Table (2019–2025)
- Doha 2019 – 0 medals (No standout performance)
- Oregon 2022 – 1 Gold (Ese Brume, Women’s Long Jump)
- Budapest 2023 – 1 Silver (Tobi Amusan, 100m Hurdles)
- Tokyo 2025 – 1 Silver (100m Hurdles)
The pattern underscores Nigeria’s reliance on individual brilliance rather than systemic excellence. Athletics analysts argue that unless the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) strengthens grassroots programs, invests in coaching and sports science, and improves athlete welfare, the country risks stagnating while competitors from Africa and beyond surge ahead.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
BY KUNLE SOLAJA.
Nigeria wrapped up its campaign at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo with a single silver medal, finishing joint 25th on the overall medals table with eight others on the medals tables as the curtain was drawing on the championship.
The position may even deepen at the end of the day.
Star hurdler Tobi Amusan delivered the country’s only podium finish, placing second in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Despite the modest medal haul, several Nigerian athletes impressed with near-misses and record-breaking efforts.
Ezekiel Nathaniel narrowly missed out on a medal in the men’s 400m hurdles, finishing fourthin a national record time. Kanyinsola Ajayi also reached the men’s 100m final, settling for sixth, while shot put specialist Chukwuebuka Enekwechi placed fifthin his event.
Nigeria fielded 15 athletes – eight men and seven women – in Tokyo. While the performances reflected resilience, the lack of medals beyond Amusan’s silver highlighted gaps in preparation and depth.
Analysts point to the absence of Nigeria’s traditionally strong relay teams, logistical challenges, and inadequate athlete support as major setbacks.
Sports observers insist that the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) must chart a new path if the country is to climb the global athletics ladder.
Key recommendations include better logistics and athlete welfare, renewed focus on relay programmes, grassroots talent identification, and consistent funding.
Despite the below-par medal count, the performances in Tokyo suggest Nigeria still possesses world-class potential. With reforms and stronger administration, the AFN has an opportunity to turn near-misses into podium finishes at future championships.
Join the Sports Village Square channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vaz7mEIGk1FxU8YIXb0H
- World Cup1 week ago
BREAKING: At last FIFA’s Axe falls on South Africa!
- World Cup1 week ago
South Africa to Appeal FIFA Ruling Over Mokoena Eligibility Case
- Nigerian Football1 week ago
Super Eagles Set for Double Friendly Showdown with Venezuela and Colombia in USA
- World Cup1 week ago
Sport Minister Orders Probe into SAFA over Bafana’s Costly Points Deduction
- World Cup6 days ago
FIFA Sanction on South Africa Offers Super Eagles a Lifeline — But a Lesson from History Looms
- CAF Confederation Cup1 week ago
Asante Kotoko End Kwara United’s Confederation Cup Campaign in Abeokuta
- U-20 FOOTBALL1 week ago
Two penalty appeal lost as Flying Eagles stumble at first hurdle
- World Cup4 days ago
Super Eagles Walk Tightrope as Nine Key Players Risk Suspension in World Cup Qualifiers