BY ANDREW EKEJIUBA
Nigeria’s foremost sports critic and former Gombe State Football Association chairman, Shuaibu Gara-Gombe, has taken a swipe at the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) and Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), following the disqualification of 10 Nigerian athletes at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan.
The highly travelled sports technocrat affirmed that he was stunned by the action of the aforementioned sporting bodies and the Sports Minister on the show of shame that happened in Japan against the country’s athletes. He further urged the affected athletes to immediately commence a legal action against the Sports Minister, NOC and AFN for negligence.
“The banned Olympians should sue the Sports Minister, Mr. Sunday Dare alongside the NOC and AFN for negligence and show of shame.
“For an athlete not to participate in Olympics after training so hard for many years is the zenith of prejudice that can happen to the career of an athlete,” Gara-Gombe fumed.
Prior to the athletics events, 10 Nigerian athletes were disqualified from taking part in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games for not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 governing National Anti-Doping Federation.
According to the Athletics Integrity Unit which is an independent body created by World Athletics that manages all integrity issues – both doping and non-doping a total of 20 athletes were ineligible with Nigeria being the most affected at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Other countries affected were Belarus, Ethiopa, Kenya, Morocco, and Ukraine.
However, embattled President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, in a face saving measure revealed that the federation has put in place appropriate measures to comply with Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules of World Athletics.
“It must be noted that no Nigerian athlete tested positive to prohibited substances.
“Also to note is that 12 top Nigerian athletes have been cleared and are eligible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
“The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred in the past and we reassure Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted.”
