•Though an alleged Okagbare ban has been dismissed as fake, it underscores the often prickly relationship between Nigerian athletes and sports administrators
Just as well the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has denied a reported Blessing Okagbare ban from next year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The purported ban, on whatever grounds, would have been knee-jerk, unwise and counter-productive.
That is why AFN should be commended for its swift denial of the alleged ban; and for the reasons it gave.
“Why would a reporter report that Okagbare has been banned from Rio Olympics and will not attribute such an important story to a staff of NSC [National Sports Commission] or AFN? The story is not true”, Olukayode Thomas, AFN board member and head of communication and media declared. “Even if Okagabare has done something and we intend to punish her, the [AFN] secretary general will first write her a letter inviting her to face disciplinary committee where she will defend herself against the allegation. After a fair hearing, the disciplinary committee will make a recommendation to the board, and the board will then decide.”
Again, it is nice AFN has developed a rigorous sense of justice; and a nuanced attitude to managing athletes some of who, to be honest, often are mavericks, on account of their touted talents and huge media approval rating. On such accounts, not a few athletes have been dismissed as “undisciplined” by their sporting federations; and branded “unpatriotic” by the often emotive Nigerian sporting media.
There is therefore a steady fare, in the media, of sporting federations threatening to crack down, errant star athletes with necks on the virtual chopping block and a furious press dismissing the athlete as unpatriotic and selfish, with even some reports spicing the news with personal insults, as if the reporter has a personal axe to grind with the athlete. The Okagbare “ban” report, which mercifully turned a hoax, evoked this ugly scenario.
Okagbare was a flop at the just concluded China Athletics World Championships, when she came eighth — and last — at the 100 metres ladies final. She also didn’t run the 200 metres final race, reportedly due to some cramps. But a few days later, she grabbed second position in an International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) Diamond League 100 metres dash. A day or two after this race, the news came that she had pulled out of the Congo Brazzaville All-Africa Games; and an apparently outraged AFN, reportedly barked at her to race in Brazzaville or forget her Rio Olympics slot.
Such trajectory would appear very typical of Nigeria’s quicksand sporting world. Therefore, Okagbare became an instant devil for flopping at the World Championships, just as she soared into sainthood when she completed a double sprints gold, at the last Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
With the media patriotically raining fire on the failed athlete, the federation becomes more stentorian and brazen. But often, this only goads the athlete to further rebellion. And with IAAF window sanctioning switch in nationalities, a few athletes have been lost to other countries, just as Nigeria, at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, benefited from such influxes.
But it need not hit that extreme. Okagbare, for example, should have no cause not to run for her country. If she has a psychological burden, it is left for the AFN and allied stakeholders to come to her aid, and lift her spirit — after all, no human is a machine. But AFN cannot do this, if there is a gulf in communication; and both parties are mutually suspicious. As for the media, they should facilitate improved communication, not make themselves an additional layer of the problem.
So, the Nigerian sporting family should dispense with empty threats and embrace mutual understanding and sensitivity. If the sporting media discharge their functions with this frame of mind, Nigerian sports should weather any storm that comes in its path.
