The Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, has said he will probe the exclusion of Nigerian athlete, Favour Ofili, from the 100m Women’s event at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
On Tuesday, the sprinter announced that she will not be competing in the 100-metre race at the ongoing Olympics in Paris due to administrative failures by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria and the Nigerian Olympic Committee.
“It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me. I have worked for 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what?” Ofili wrote on Instagram.
Reacting in a statement on Wednesday, the minister said the “Athletic Federation of Nigeria and the Nigeria Olympic Committee must ensure that Ofili is not deprived of the opportunity to compete in the races for which she is qualified and registered to represent the country at the Paris Olympics. She is committed to proving her mettle.”
He vowed appropriate “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,” Enoh said.
