Nigerian athletes seeking Paris Olympics tickets may shun Region 11 Athletics Championships for 4th MOC Grand Prix

Nigerian athletes, especially home based athletes, seeking to compete in Paris, France at the XXXIII Olympic Games may shun the 2024 CAA Region II Athletics Championship holding in Accra, Ghana between June 3 and 6, 2024 for the 4th MoC Grand Prix which holds in Lagos between May 31 and June 1, 2024 due to the different status of the two events.

While the 2024 CAA Region II Athletics Championship is organized with countries sending official delegations, the 4th MoC Grand Prix is principally meant for athletes registering in their individual or clubs capacities.

If Nigeria will be sending a delegation to Ghana, most of the athletes are likely to opt out as the competition will not serve any qualification purpose as it is not registered with World Athletics.

What this means is that the results achieved at the event will count for nothing as clearly stated by World Athletics that results of competitions which are not listed on its calendar are not recognized.

‘All competitions held under World Athletics, Area or National Member Federation Permit as notified to World Athletics through a prior and appropriate application process are understood as conducted according to relevant World Athletics Competition and Technical Rules and the published results, unless noted otherwise, are recognised by World Athletics for all its statistical purposes including World Rankings and qualification to major Championships,’ says World Athletics.

Nigeria’s Tonobok Okowa is President of Region 11 and it is bizarre that the region failed to notify World Athletics of the competition in Accra, Ghana.

Observers are however hopeful the region, led by its Nigerian president will wake up and do the needful so that the event will not be boycotted by athletes across the sub-region.

Meanwhile, the 4th MoC Grand Prix is captured on the World Athletics calendar and thus qualifies for a Paris Olympics qualifying event.