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| Okagbare, others may miss pre-Olympics Championship in Durban |
The ‘poor’ preparation by
Team Nigeria for this year’s Rio Olympic Games has taken a new dimension if the
revelation by an official of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN)
yesterday is anything to go by.
The
Guardian Nigeria report continues:
Nigerian
athletes are expected to jet out to Durban South Africa later this week for the
African Senior Athletics Championship. Two years ago in Marrakech, Morocco, the
country finished second behind South Africa, but this year, the AFN claims it
has the team to reclaim its number one position in African track and field.
However,
the trip to Durban may not materialize because, according to one AFN official
yesterday, the sports ministry in Abuja has failed to release money for the
trip.
“It
is so bad now that we can’t even raise money to pay visa fees for the
athletes,” the official told The Guardian. “Our preparation for the Olympic
Games had never taken this bad shape. Athletics is one of the sports Team
Nigeria is hoping to get medals in Rio. We intend to use this trip to Durban to
give the athletes the final brush up since there is no money to organize the
usual overseas training camp for them. If the athletes failed in Rio, Nigerians
should know who to blame because the AFN and the athletes have done their
parts. The Presidency has to do something very fast,” the official said.
On
Monday, the AFN said Team Nigeria would send a strong team to South Africa with
the aim of beating the host and defending champion, South Africa, on home soil.
Toro Predicts Disastrous Olympics Outing
For Nigeria If…
Daily
Trust reports that a former secretary general of the Nigeria Football
Association (NFA), Sani Toro says with less than two months to the 2016 Rio
Olympics in Brazil, the country’s preparation for the games is in shambles
which could lead to a disastrous outing come August. In a chat with Daily Trust
yesterday, the former chairman House committee on sports noted that it’s
necessary that the presidency under Muhammadu Buhari intervenes by releasing
the required funds to the ministry of youth and sports so that what remains of
the vital preparations could be salvaged considering the ‘little time’ left for
preparation.
“I
think it’s necessary for President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene by requesting
the immediate release of the required funds to the youth and sports ministry to
execute programmes leading up to the Games or else with less than two months,
we could either miss or perform woefully in Rio,” Toro noted.
Besides,
Toro also sympathised with the football family on the death of great and high
profile former chief coaches of the Super Eagles, Shuaibu Amodu and Stephen
Keshi.
Amodu
passed away on Saturday barely three days after the death of former Eagles
captain and coach, Stephen Keshi.
“It
is another shocker and very sad thing to hear the news of the death of another
great coach, Shuaibu Amodu immediately after Keshi. The thing is that we can’t question
Almighty God as regards their sudden death,” Toro said sadly.
“Time
matters a lot; when the time to go comes nobody can stop it. I heard Amodu
started complaining about chest pain on Friday only to die the following
morning. It was found out to be the same cardiac arrest that took Keshi away.
It is very sad. That is life.
“The two coaches Keshi and Amodu have paid their dues in coaching and their records are laid bare for everybody to see. I was very, very close to the two of them as a former Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Federation,” Toro concluded.
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