AFN holds board meeting to decide fate of its officials indicted in non-registration of Ofili for Paris 2024 Olympics 100m event
The fate of two principal officers of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, indicted in the cruel display of incompetence and poor judgement that led to the non-registration of Favour Ofili for the 100m event at the Paris 2024 Olympics will top the agenda of the executive board meeting of the federation on Saturday.
The meeting, earlier scheduled for last Sunday via Zoom, could not hold because of lack of quorum. The meeting was thus shifted to this Saturday, and Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see if the AFN will adopt the recommendations of the Investigative Committee set up by the immediate past Sports Development Minister, John Owan Enoh.
The Investigative Committee, led by Dr. Mumini Alao, recommended that the AFN should sanction its Technical Director, Samuel Onikeke, for his poor judgement after revealing that he got wind of Ofili’s non-registration for the 100m event two days before the final delegate registration meeting and a clear two weeks before the start of the athletics event of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
‘The Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Samuel Onikeku, should be sanctioned by the Board of AFN – of which he is also a member – for not reporting the “hint” and “rumour” respectively that he heard about the non-registration of the athlete, Favour Ofili, for the 100 meters event.
‘Top officials of the Ministry of Sports Development and the NOC held their Final Delegation Registration Meeting (F-DRM) online on 14th July 2024. By his own admission, Samuel Onikeku first got the “hint” about Ofili’s exclusion from the 100 meters on “11th or 12th July 2024.”
‘Perhaps if he had shared his information with the AFN secretariat, the AFN President or other Board members, intervention proceedings might have commenced during the F-DRM on 14 July to address Ofili’s omission rather than wait till Favour Ofili came around to discover the omission by herself very late on 28 July 2024,’ the Investigative Committee wrote in its recommendations.
AFN Secretary General Rita Mosindi was also recommended for sanction.
‘The Secretary General of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Rita Mosindi should be penalized by the appropriate authority for NEGLIGENCE in her duties.
‘She was unable to provide convincing evidence to our Committee to support her claim that she submitted important documents relating to the registration of the athlete, Favour Ofili in the 100 meters, to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC).
‘Rita Mosindi’s reliance on social media WhatsApp messaging as the only means of official communication does not speak well of her competence as an administrative officer,’ the Investigative Committee further recommended.
The AFN may recommend to the NSC the removal of Mrs Mosindi as its Secretary General if her employers are dillydallying in adopting the recommendations of its own Investigative Committee.
The executive board of the federation is also expected to deliberate on the payment of $5,000 compensation to Ofili as recommended by the Investigative Committee.
Also expected to be on the table for deliberation will be the federation’s programme for the 2025 season including plans for the 20th World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan in September.
