AFN under fire over face-saving age cheating probe
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says it will investigate allegations that athletes presented multiple birth dates during the 2025 African U18 and U20 Championships in Abeokuta.
But to many in the athletics community, this belated move is nothing more than medicine after death.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) of World Athletics has already flagged glaring discrepancies, with evidence showing Nigerian athletes used different dates of birth across competitions.
This is not new. Similar scandals surfaced in 2024, yet the AFN failed to act, allowing the rot to fester and embarrass the country again.
AFN President, Chief Tonobok Okowa, insists his administration frowns at age cheats and promises to set up a committee. Critics dismiss this as hollow.
They argue the federation itself is under probe and cannot credibly investigate its own wrongdoing. Stakeholders believe the National Sports Commission, which has supervisory authority over the AFN, should be leading the inquiry, not the federation trying to judge itself.
The silence of the Commission has only deepened suspicion. Instead of immediate sanctions against those responsible, the AFN is hiding behind committees and statements. The repeated scandals show negligence, complicity, and a federation incapable of reform.
Stakeholders are also asking why this probe was not launched when the problem first surfaced in 2024 under then-technical director Samuel Onikeku.
Worse still, the AFN never investigated the Favour Ofili debacle at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where Onikeku was indicted by a ministerial panel set up by Sports Minister John Enoh for failing to act on information that Ofili had not been registered for the women’s 100m.
That failure cost Nigeria dearly, yet no accountability followed.
For now, the AFN stands accused not just of failing to protect the integrity of Nigerian athletics, but of being part of the problem.
Until the AIU’s demands for clear explanations and documentary proof of athletes’ real ages are met, the credibility of the federation remains in tatters.
