The Sports Minister, John Enoh, has vowed to find out why Nigerian athlete, Favor Ofili, was excluded from the 100m race at the ongoing 2024 Olympics taking place in Paris.
Ofili, a strong medal contender, was notably absent from the event which began on Saturday (today).
The minister expressed his disappointment in a statement on Saturday on his X.com handle.
According to him, he had been working tirelessly to resolve the issue, as he engaged with officials from the Nigeria Olympic Committee and World Athletics.
Enoh’s statement partly read, “The 100m race got off to a start today, sadly without Favor Ofili. I was on the matter until the early hours of today, with the hope of giving Nigerians something to be happy about. From the moment I stated my position on this, officials of the NOC haven’t slept, they have been on their toes.
“The NOC President, Engr Habu Gumel, and his team kept vigil, traversing between the Director of Competition, the Technical Committee and the World Athletics. I have been duly informed that some other countries have similar issues, and these aforementioned bodies do not want to open a floodgate that would become difficult to manage.
“Howbeit, I am not concerned about other countries. My interest is with my own country Nigeria and who is responsible for the non-listing of Favor Ofili. Furthermore, I have been briefed that World Athletics submitted, that when the final list was published in July by it, AFN should have called its attention to the omission of Favor Ofili’s name. This still doesn’t address the issue.”
While admitting that other countries had encountered similar setbacks, the minister stated that Nigeria’s situation required urgent attention.
He questioned the circumstances leading to Ofili’s omission from the 100m race, demanding to know at what point was her name dropped from the list and who was responsible.
“What’s the motivation behind this? What’s the trail of communication from AFN to NOC and IOC and/or World Athletics?” he queried.
However, he vowed to probe the matter religiously after the Olympics.
“At what point did her name drop out of the 100m race? Who’s responsible for this? What’s the motivation behind this?What’s the trail of communication from AFN to NOC and IOC and/or World Athletics? All these are questions that must be answered immediately after the Olympics.”
Despite the setback, Enoh urged Ofili to remain focused on her other events, assuring her of his support. He also called on the rest of Team Nigeria to stay motivated and strive for victory.
“For now, I appeal to Favor Ofili to refuse to allow this to distract her concentration in the remaining races for which she has been listed(I’m in touch with her on this).
“And for the rest of Team Nigeria, particularly the Athletics team, let them stay motivated to win.”
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