. Coach calls for probe
Again, Nigeria’s future sports stars were denied the opportunity to test their might against their foreign counterparts at this year’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas following the shoddy handling of the trip by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
25 athletes were scheduled to represent Nigeria at the games with over N240m budgeted for the country’s participation in the championships. For more than seven weeks, the athletes were camped in Abuja and Lagos in preparation for the games under rigorous training without the necessary equipment provided. But few days to the team’s departure, the travelling logistics for the contingent was again mishandled by the sports ministry as most of the athletes failed to secure visa to either US or UK.
Having trained without the necessary equipment coupled with all other organisational hiccups that trailed the camping, the athletes joy was extinguished when only two was able to make the trip to Bahamas for the games. A tennis athlete – Adetayo Adetunji and a cyclist, Jacinta Okorie were the only athletes that represented Nigeria at the games.
A sadden coach, who pleaded anonymity and who was supposed to be part of the trip to Bahamas told NationSport yesterday that the handling of the trip coupled with how the budgeted fund was spent should be probed.
“Personally, i think those in charge of our sports are not interested in the athletes as what they are after is what they are going to make from the sports. I cannot imagine that those in the Ministry of Youth and Sports could not secure visa for the Nigerian team despite having enough time to perfect the visa process. We were in camp for more than seven weeks and no equipment was given to any team to even prepare. Also, the allowance which was promised was cut while I was also surprised that for weeks we have been in camp, nobody bothered to think of starting visa processing for the team. It was only 10 days to the games, that they started the visa processing.
“The handling of the visa was appalling as some unprofessional people were invited to the camp to assist the athletes and coaches to fill the visa form and this caused the rejection of the team by the US and UK embassies. It was only the cyclist – Jacinta that was able to get visa from US embassy while only the tennis coach that was also given visa by the UK embassy. Others were turned down. This was because the forms were not well filed by those engaged by the Sports Ministry,” he lamented.
“Can you imagine that the athletes were only given $100 to return to their various bases after they could not secure visa. But my concern now is whether those guys in the Ministry are really interested in developing our sports. These are the athletes that are expected to replace the ageing ones in future. I think this should be probed to ascertain why we failed to present a contingent for the game. I am indeed saddened that our sports has gone down in the last two years under this dispensation,” he said.
Prior to the games, the assigned Nigeria’s leader of delegation and Head of Grassroots Development in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ademola Are, had said on Sunday, July 9, that all travelling arrangements for the athletes have been well taken care of. “All athletes have been cleared of visa issues, as we are able to meet all requirements. We actually have two options, to go through the US or UK; either of the two, no athlete would be dropped, “Are concluded.
Nigeria was expected to take part in athletics, cycling, swimming, judo, beach volleyball, tennis, and boxing but the two-man team featured in cycling and tennis, while the games started on July 18 and ended yesterday July 23.