This Saturday, the executive committee of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) will meet to discuss the actions of officials involved in the failure to register Favour Ofili for the 100m at the 2024 Olympic Games, which ultimately led to her being disqualified despite having qualified.

The fate of two senior AFN officials blamed for the administrative errors and poor judgement that led to Ofili’s exclusion will be high on the agenda.  

In July, Favour Ofili publicly expressed her frustration after learning that she would not be able to compete in the 100m at Paris 2024 due to mistakes made by the AFN and the Nigerian Olympic Committee (NOC). Ofili called for accountability and questioned the reliability of both organisations. She only participated in the women’s 200m at Paris 2024.

“I deeply regret to announce that I won’t be competing in the 100m at these Olympics. I qualified but the AFN and NOC failed to register me. I’ve worked for four years for this opportunity. For what?,” said who won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Athletics Championships U20.  

Despite meeting the qualification criteria, Ofili revealed that officials failed to complete her registration, echoing a similar issue that left 14 Nigerian athletes unable to compete at Tokyo 2020, as she had previously highlighted.  

The meeting, originally scheduled for last Sunday via Zoom, was postponed due to a lack of quorum and rescheduled for this Saturday 23 November.  

Nigerians are eager to see if the AFN will implement the recommendations of an investigative committee set up by former Sports Development Minister John Owan Enoh to look into the matter and impose sanctions.  

The committee, headed by Dr Mumini Alao, recommended disciplinary action against AFN technical director Samuel Onikeke for negligence.

Onikeke admitted that he learned of Ofili’s exclusion from the 100m on 11 or 12 July, two days before the Final Delegation Registration Meeting (F-DRM), which took place virtually on 14 July, and two weeks before the start of the athletics events in Paris.  

“The Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Samuel Onikeke, should be sanctioned by the AFN Board – of which he is also a member – for failing to report the ‘hints’ and ‘rumours’ he heard about Favour Ofili’s exclusion from the 100m,” the committee said.  

Had Onikeke shared this information with the AFN secretariat, president or other board members, corrective action could have been taken during the F-DRM. Instead, Ofili discovered the omission herself on 28 July, far too late to correct the error.  

The Commission of Inquiry also called for sanctions against AFN Secretary General Rita Mosindi for negligence.  

“Rita Mosindi, the secretary general of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, should be sanctioned by the appropriate authority for dereliction of duty. She has failed to provide convincing evidence to support her claim that she submitted vital documents relating to Favour Ofili’s 100m registration to the Ministry of Sports Development and the NOC.  

“Her reliance on WhatsApp as her sole means of official communication reflects poorly on her competence as an administrative officer,” the report added. 

The AFN may recommend Mosindi’s removal as secretary general to the National Sports Council (NSC) if her employers are reluctant to act on the committee’s recommendations.  

The board will also discuss whether to pay Ofili $5,000 (€4,600) in compensation, as suggested by the committee.  

In addition to this critical issue in July, the board is expected to discuss the federation’s programme for the 2025 season, including plans for the 20th World Championships in Athletics, to be held in Tokyo, Japan, from 13-21 September 2025, under the auspices of World Athletics.

-insidethegames

BY DAPO SOTUMINU

Nigeria’s Francis James and Blessing Shambaz yesterday emerged winners of the 2nd Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10km Race to go home with the winners prize money of $1,000 in a race that was officially flagged off by the First  vice president of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Chief Solomon Ogba, and supported by Mr. Nadin Khan, the president of the World Ultra Running.

James won the men’s race finishing at 30minutes 11seconds to beat all opponents to consolidate on his victory in Abuja when he finished second best in the half marathon held in the Federal Capital Territory middle of the year.

James also emerged the Nigeria’s winner of the World class half marathon.

It will be recalled that James at his last major race in Abuja finished second place in a national half marathon race. He stressed that he used that race to prepare for the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race and he was very happy winning the race.

He stressed that, the victory at Lotus Bank Abeokuta 10m Race has given him the confidence to do better in others races coming up in Nigeria and its an indication, that he’s very close to making history for Nigeria in subsequent marathon races. He added that, Nigerian runners will pull surprise in the others races not minding the attendance of the East Africans.

In second place for the men’s race  is Gyang Raymond at a time of 30 minutes 14 seconds. Gyang got $750 for his effort. While the third place winner is Gyang David Boyi at 30 minutes 54 seconds. Boyi got a cash prize of $500.

In the women 10km race, the runners up that placed second was Daylop Patience at a time of 36minutes 98.28seconds to keep her position in last year’s edition. She got $750.

Third place winner is Agofure Charity at 37minutes 88 seconds.She got $500.

The overall 10km also saw the race by special athletes.

The route of the Lotus Bank Abeokuta Race wore a very active look this morning with the active presence of Febbs table water, a part sponsor of the event.

The volunteers on each points on the route all had Febbs Water on their hands ready to hand them over the runners. The organisers decorated all the runners that crossed the finish line with gold medals, this added to the fanfare and celebrations at the Alake Palace finish line of the race.

The Diamond League will increase its prize money to more than $9 million in 2025, the highest in the history of the series, the organisers have said.

Athletes will make a total of $18 million, with top athletes also receiving promotional fees. Male and female athletes will be paid at the same rate, the Diamond League said in a statement.

“The new total is almost a third higher than the sum paid during the pandemic-affected period of 2021-2024,” the statement said, adding that more will be invested in the athletes’ travel, transport, accommodation, medical and physio services.

Each of the 14 Diamond League meets of the 2025 regular season, scheduled to kick off in April, will award a total prize money of $500,000, with the final in August offering $2.24 million.

“The total prize money per discipline will be between $30,000 and $50,000 at the series meetings and between $60,000 and $100,000 at the final,” the statement added.

The Diamond League’s 2024 season concluded in Brussels last week, with Zurich set to host the 2025 final.

The news comes after World Athletics ended a 128-year tradition by paying Olympic champions at the Paris Games $50,000 each and as rival track events try to muscle in on the circuit long seen as the standard-bearer for professional athletics.

Retired American sprinting great Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track will offer prize money ranging from $100,000 for the winner to $10,000 for the eighth-place finisher at each of four “slams” when the league launches next year.

It will distribute a total of $12.6 million in prize money in 2025.

“In a league of our own,” Grand Slam Track wrote in a post on X, opens new tab on Wednesday, with a breakdown of their prize money.

-Reuters