Olympics: AFN, NOC under fire over Ofili’s 100m omission

The Nigeria  Olympic Committee (NOC) and the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN)   may have a case to answer  in the omission of  Favour Ofili’s name  from the list of Team Nigeria athletes who are  to compete  in the blue-ribbon  women’s 100m race  of the Paris  2024 Olympics.

Ofili was originally listed  to compete  in both the 100m and the 200m events in Paris but the  21-year-old  went to town late Tuesday  night  that  she was not registered  with World Athletics for the 100m hence she would only compete in the 200m.

“I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to register me,” she said. “If those responsible are not held accountable for taking this opportunity from me, neither organisation can ever be trusted in the future!”

Normally, it’s the responsibility of the NOC to present  Team Nigeria athletes  to the International Olympic Committee(IOC)  vis-à-vis  World Athletics but  there seems to be confusion  on how  Ofili was denied a spot  for the 100m race to the chagrin of  the Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh.

Senator Enoh explained  in a long post  shared by his media team,  that he had interfaced with both the NOC  and AFN  as well as Ofili  to unravel   how the athlete was denied the opportunity to  compete for a medal.

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The minister stated inter alia: “As Minister of Sports, I will not tolerate this utter recklessness. It is highly inexcusable, and there will be thorough sanctions after investigations into where and from whom this gross negligence originated. All parties must take their duties very seriously. “
The current way of operating the Federal Ministry of Sports Development does not allow for incompetence at any level.”

The AFN through its Technical Director, Samuel Onikeku   issued a statement  absolving  itself of any culpability  in the  matter a NOC insider  called ‘AFN  with her peculiar problem’.

“We registered Ofili for the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay. We don’t know how her name got missing in the 100m. This is our stand as a federation,” AFN Technical Director,  Onikeku, said in a message to AFN Media.

But an official of the NOC  who spoke in confidence,  said in as much as  the body was not ready to ‘wash  the AFN dirty linen’ in the public, he affirmed that the NOC  has no power to have dropped Ofili from the entries for the 100m race.

 “ We have seen through the shenanigans of the AFN  and of course, we have  seen the purported general list they  have paraded in the media justifying  the claim that  Ofili was duly registered for both the 100m and 200m races,” the official said .“ But if you can reach out to  Onikeku, ask him to produce the shortlist of athletes for individual events  the AFN  submitted?

“ Are they saying the NOC President  is technically  schooled enough to determine  which of the races Ofili  had a comparative advantage as she bids for a medal in Paris?  The NOC will speak on this issue at the right time,” he added.

Olympics: AFN, NOC under fire over Ofili’s 100m omission