Kienka: ‘How can the same people implicated in Ofiligate be the same people calling the shots?’

Godwin Kienka, the director of the International Tennis Academy and a former International Tennis Federation umpire, has asked the National Sports Commission, NSC, to be courageous and close the shameful and disgraceful conduct of Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, officials indicted for exposing Nigeria to negative exposure at the Paris 2024 Olympics following their non-registration of sprinter, Favour Ofili for the 100m event despite the then 21 year old meeting all the conditions for participation.

Kienka, in a report in The Guardian newspaper, wants the NSC, headed by Mallam Shehu Dikko to show courage and apply the necessary sanctions recommended by the Ministerial Investigative Panel set up by former Sports Minister, John Owan Enoh.

However, while many view that the probe panels have not served the country well in the past, the author of the book Going Round in Circles,

Kienka believes it is a straightforward case.

‘Ofili is a patriot who desires the best for her country. How can the same people implicated by the panel on her omission from the 100m race at the Paris Olympics be the same people calling the shots?

‘That is wrong. She was not asking for anything personal. The athletes are the kings in sports, but some people do not understand that. She demanded an answer, and nobody has given it to her.

‘The solution is that the NSC must be man enough to admit that they erred, apologise to Ofili and Nigerians, and promise that such things will not happen again. Grandstanding will not solve the issues,’Kienka was quoted as saying by The Guardian.