AFN moves to curb age cheats, opens portal for athletes’ registration
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, has opened a registration portal for athletes to register ahead of the 2025 athletics season.
Athletes are to register under clubs that are already affiliated to the Federation or register as unattached if they do not have clubs.
In a message on its social media platforms, the AFN says athletes can only register under clubs that have concluded their registration with the Federation.
‘No athlete should register under a club he/she does not belong to and athletes whose clubs are not listed by the Federation can register as ‘unattached,’ wrote the Federation.
It also says athletes that belong to states affiliated to the AFN but whose state is not affiliated to any private club are to register under ‘State Athlete’.
The AFN says athletes are expected to fill the form provided for this purpose and are expected to fill it accurately and truthfully.
One of the aims of the renewed athletes registration policy will ostensibly be to curb discrepancies in the ages of Nigerian athletes which led to the AFN receiving a query from the Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU, about seven months ago.
The AIU queried the AFN over discrepancies in the ages of four Nigerian athletes, demanding an explanation on the multiple ages of the athletes who are eligible to compete in August’s World U20 Championships in Lima, Peru.
In a letter dated June 7, 2024 and addressed to AFN president, Tonobok Ojuru Okowa, and secretary-general, Rita Moshindi (removed this year), the AIU said it ‘has identified discrepancies regarding the date of birth (DOB) for at least 4 Nigerian athletes’, noting ‘each of these athletes has at least two, and sometimes three or more different DOBs which have been used to enter competitions at different times.’
The AIU further said it ‘is not aware of any reason why the athletes appear to have completely different, multiple DOBs. It is also not clear whether the identification documents submitted by the athletes (such as passports) are true or whether they have been forged or falsified.’
