The Vice President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Tunde Abdulkareem has warned against the incessant invitation of foreign Athletes to Nigeria because it kills the morale of home based Athletes.
Abdulkareem made the submission at the former/current athletes, coaches and administrators meeting tagged stakeholders Confab held in Abuja.
However, the chairman noted that grassroots programmes were the only way forward just as he warned against age cheating.
He said: “It tarnishes the image of the country when Nigerian Athletics are found guilty of lying about their ages.”
In the same vein, Olympian, Brown Ebewele has noted that track and field in Nigeria in the past 8years has been a disaster despite the influx of foreign based-athletes
He said: “In the past two Olympic games AFN was not been able to produce any medals.”
Meanwhile, Coach Tom Nnakwe has suggested that if foreign-based athletes must be invited, the athlete must proof that they are ranked in the world’s best 20 in that event before they can be considered for invitation.