MURIC blasts AFN for fixing Olympic Trials on Salah Days
Muslim Rights Concern, MURIC, has blasted the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) for fixing the Nigeria track and field championships which will serve as selection trials for both the African Athletics Championships and the Olympic Games on Salah day.
The AFN has picked June 16 to 18 as dates for the championships and MURIC says the dates are unacceptable.
In a press statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Professor Ishaq Akintola, founder/executive director of MURIC, the Muslims right group describes the development as an attempt to strangulate Muslim athletes and coaches and deny them the opportunity to compete with their Christian counterparts thereby opening the door wide open for an all-Christian Olympic team.
The press release stated further:
“The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has allegedly fixed the trial for the coming Olympics to start from 16th to 18th June, 2024. It is already public knowledge that the same 16th to 18th June, 2024 are the days of this year’s Salah.
“The Olympic trial entails test runs to pick the best athletes who will represent Nigeria at the Olympics. The 2024 Olympics will take place in Paris from Friday, 26th July to Sunday, 11th August, 2024.
“We reject the dates chosen by AFN for the trials because they coincide with Salah dates which are also 16th to 18th June, 2024. In actual fact, 17th and 18th are likely to be declared public holidays by the Federal Government in recognition of the Salah.
*”This is an attempt to strangulate Muslim athletes and coaches and deny them the opportunity to compete with their Christian counterparts thereby opening the door wide open for an all-Christian Olympic team. It is christianisation of the sports sector,’ the statement read.
MURIC says ‘Nigerian athletes have their eyes set on the Olympics. But their families are also putting pressure on them to celebrate Salah. In effect, they will not be able to concentrate fully on the trial if AFN holds the events during Salah.
‘That means they will not be able to put in their best whereas their Christian counterparts will not have that challenge. AFN has succeeded in making the opportunities unequal. It is not fair. It is unjust. It is parochial.
‘In the name of justice, fairness and equity, MURIC calls on the Athletics Federation of Nigeria to postpone the trial until after the Salah.’
This is the first time that the AFN will fix any of its competitions on Salah day and observers feel the AFN should have fixed the trials to hold from Thursday June 13 to Saturday June 15 since the NCAA Championships ended on Saturday and the athletes who competed in the NCAA Outdoor Championships would have had enough time to rest and start competing on Thursday.
