Olympics
Nigeria’s catastrophic results at the Olympics make headline in Europe
Not only Nigerians back home are disappointed about the results obtained by Team Nigeria at the Paris 2024 Olympics, it was also shocking to foreign observers.
One of such is reflected in a report carried by Inside The Games, an Olympic news website being run by Vox Europe Investment Holding Ltd. The story written by Claudia Saez, it runs thus:
“With no medal haul for the first time since 2012, the faltering performances of Nigeria’s contingent in Paris failed to live up to pre-Games expectations.
As in previous Olympics, it seems like an indictment of the country’s consistently inept sports administration.
With the exception of the women basketball team, D’Tigress, who qualified for their first-ever quarterfinal at the Olympic Games after a thrilling 79-70 win over Canada in their final group B match on Sunday, Team Nigeria’s wobbly performances at the ongoing Paris Games persists with the country’s athletes crashing out of 10 events they entered for.
The fact that the country did not win a single medal for the first time since London 2012 seems like evidence in the reckless exclusion of the nation’s national champion and only medal hopeful, Favour Ofili, from the women’s 100m race.
While smaller nations on the continent came home with multiple medals, the Giant of Africa left empty-handed for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics. Despite fielding continental champions like 100m hurdles record holder Tobi Amusan, Africa’s most populous nation did not live up to Olympic expectations.
A day after the Olympics closed, former and current Olympians lashed out at the country’s sporting federations calling for a shakeup in organisations they say failed their athletes. “I must apologise to our compatriots and reflect on what went wrong,” Sports Minister John Owan Enoh said on social media after Paris.
He said when he assumed the ministry less than a year before the Games, he learned that Nigeria’s Olympics preparations had not even started. “As a country, we deserve more,” he said. “Let’s turn the disastrous outcome of the 2024 Olympics to a huge positive for Nigerian sports.”
Nigeria’s best haul in the Olympics was in Atlanta in 1996 when the team won two golds, one silver and three bronzes. Beijing brought five medals in 2008, but there were zero in London four years later.
Atlanta Olympics gold medal winner in the long jump, Chioma Ajunwa, said Nigeria’s sporting federations needed a shakeup to bring in sports people who knew what they were doing. “They should stop recycling the old administrative officers that never know what they are doing,” she told Arise News channel. “It is quite disheartening that every year, Nigeria will be telling this kind of story.”
Accusations from the athletes
Olympic sprinter Favour Ofili accused officials at the Athletics Federation of Nigeria of leaving her out of the Paris 100 metres race due to administrative failures even after she qualified.
Similar accusations dogged Nigeria during the Tokyo Olympics when a group of Nigerian athletes were unable to compete because they said sporting federations did not release funds to carry out the right pre-Games tests. “I have worked for four years to earn this opportunity. For what?” Ofili wrote on X. “This is not the first time you guys are doing this so don’t think this is over because it’s not.”
Officials from the athletics federation did not respond to calls. But a senior source from Nigeria’s sporting administration told AFP officials withdrew Ofili to let her focus on the 200 metre race. “The decision to withdraw her from 100m was by AFN, but apparently this was not communicated to the athlete,” the source said.
Sports Minister Enoh said he was questioning officials about why Ofili was left out of the 100 metres race. Ofili came sixth in the 200 metres final in her Olympic debut in Paris. Hurdler Tobi Amusan came third in her heat and did not qualify for the final.
Hameed Adio, former 100 metres sprinter and Olympic team captain, said the country needed more preparation and better organisation.
“Until we consider sports as big business and treat it as such and not just a pastime and also see that those running our sports are technically sound, experienced and patriotic, the results will remain as we had at Paris 2024,” he said.
“We have to do away with the ‘fire brigade’ approach to our preparations to the Olympics.”
One bright spot for Nigeria was women’s basketball under the guidance of Rena Wakama who was recognised as Best Female Basketball Coach at the Games for the team’s “incredible run”, according to the International Basketball Federation.
They beat Canada to become the first African team to reach the quarter-finals where they lost to eventual gold medalists USA.
By Kunle Solaja.
Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will begin their campaign for a place at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games from the second round of the African qualifiers after being granted a bye in the opening stage.
The draw, conducted on Wednesday in Cairo by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), placed Nigeria among 29 higher-ranked teams exempted from the first round of the series.
The Super Falcons will take on the winner of the first-round clash between South Sudan and Comoros in their opening fixture of the qualifiers.
A total of 35 nations are competing for just two available slots allocated to Africa for the women’s football tournament at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, underlining the intensity and high stakes of the qualification process.
The qualifiers will be contested over five knockout rounds on a home-and-away basis, leaving little room for error as teams battle for continental representation on the global stage.
The first round involves the six lowest-ranked teams—Sudan, Mauritius, Djibouti, South Sudan, Madagascar and Comoros—based on the latest FIFA Women’s World Rankings. Winners from this stage will advance to face each other again before the 29 seeded teams, including Nigeria, enter the fray.
Nigeria will be aiming to consolidate their status among Africa’s elite women’s football nations, having qualified for the most recent Olympic tournament alongside Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Although the Super Falcons boast a notable Olympic pedigree, having made their debut at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and subsequently appearing at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024, qualification has not always been easy.
The 16-year gap between their last two participations in Beijing 2008 and Paris 2024 illustrates the tough time they have endured in the qualifying series.
With the women’s football event at Los Angeles 2028 set to feature 16 teams—including hosts the United States—Nigeria’s path to qualification is expected to be demanding.
Attention will now shift to the preliminary encounter between South Sudan and Comoros, as Nigeria’s technical crew intensify preparations ahead of their second-round entry point.
For the Super Falcons, the mission is clear: successfully navigate a rigorous qualifying campaign and secure a return to the Olympic stage in 2028.
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Nigeria’s senior women’s national team, the Super Falcons, will on Wednesday discover their route to the football event of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles when the Confederation of African Football conducts the official draw in Cairo.
The draw ceremony, scheduled for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, will set in motion Africa’s qualifying campaign for the women’s football tournament of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
A total of 35 countries, including Nigeria, will participate in the race for just two tickets allocated to Africa for the Olympic football event, which will take place from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Alongside Nigeria, other contenders include continental heavyweights such as South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Zambia, as well as a wide range of emerging nations from across the continent.
The full list of participating teams also features Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
According to CAF, the qualification series will be played over five rounds, gradually narrowing the field to the two teams that will fly Africa’s flag at the Olympics in the United States.
For Nigeria, Africa’s most successful women’s national team, the qualifiers present another opportunity to reaffirm their continental dominance and secure a return to the Olympic stage after recent mixed fortunes in global competitions.
The Super Falcons, nine-time African champions, are expected to be among the top seeds when the draw is conducted, a factor that could influence their early-round opponents.
Wednesday’s ceremony in Cairo will therefore provide clarity on the fixtures, timelines and potential hurdles facing Nigeria and other contenders as the road to Los Angeles officially begins.
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By Kunle Solaja.
Morocco’s senior women’s national team will on Wednesday learn their opponents and qualification pathway to the football event of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games when the Confederation of African Football stages the official draw in Cairo.
The draw, billed for April 29 at CAF headquarters in Egypt, marks the starting point of Africa’s qualifying campaign, with 35 nations set to battle for just two coveted Olympic slots.
For Morocco, the exercise represents another significant step in the country’s rapidly rising profile in women’s football. The Atlas Lionesses, who have emerged as one of Africa’s most improved sides in recent years, will be aiming to secure a historic qualification for the Olympic Games.
The North Africans will face stiff competition from traditional powerhouses such as Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon and Ghana, alongside other ambitious sides including Zambia and Senegal.
Also in the race are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
CAF confirmed that the qualifiers will unfold across five rounds, with the field gradually trimmed down until only two teams remain to represent Africa at the Olympics in the United States from July 11 to 29, 2028.
Morocco are expected to be among the seeded teams for the early rounds, a reflection of their recent performances on the continental stage, including their strong showing at recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.
Wednesday’s draw in Cairo will therefore be crucial in determining Morocco’s early matchups and the potential obstacles on their path, as they seek to translate recent progress into a maiden appearance at the Olympic Games.
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