Tokyo Olympics: Sports minister apologises to disqualified athletes

TNT Newsline July 30, 2021 2 minutes read

The Minister of Sports and Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has apologised to the 10 Nigerian athletes that were disqualified from participating in the 2020 Olympics currently holding in Tokyo.

Mr. Dare made this known on Friday, in a press statement by the Federal Ministry of Sports, titled, ‘Ministry Wades to stem crisis’ where he promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding their disqualification.

“The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has stepped in to stem the further crisis by addressing the issues that have arisen concerning Team Nigeria athletes.

“The Ministry is looking into some of the issues raised by the athletes and they are being addressed as quickly as possible.

“The Honourable Minister on Thursday morning in a meeting spoke directly with the 10 track and field athletes who will not be competing and assured them of their welfare. He apologized to them for the unfortunate development that led to their exclusion and promised that it would be fully investigated.”

The Director Federation of Elites Athletes Department, Dr. Simon Ebhojiaye, also disclosed that the ministry is aware of the situation and will address them.

He said “the Ministry is abreast of the situation on the ground and addressing them. Payment of various allowances commenced last week and it’s ongoing.”

10 Nigerian athletes were ruled ineligible to participate at the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

The athletes were ruled ineligible due to failure to meet the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules for ‘Category A’ federations. (Channels TV)