The Minister of Sports and Development, Mr. Sunday Dare has tendered an unreserved apology to the ten Nigerian athletes that were banned from participating in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The Minister 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 unravel the circumstances that led to 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, stated 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 disqualified from the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).
The athletes were banned due to their failure to meet the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules for ‘Category A’ federations.
