Sports Minister reveals failed bid to get Ofili to compete in Paris 2024 Olympics 100m event

Sports Development Minister, Senator John Enoh has revealed how he and the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC, made efforts to get Favour Ofili registered for the 100m after the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN, bungled the 21-year old’s registration.

In a message on his X handle, Enoh narrated how the whole operation went without success but promised to get answers to some questions.

‘The 100m race got off to a start today, sadly without Favor Ofili.

‘I was on the matter until early hours of today, with the hope of giving Nigerians something to be happy about.

‘From the moment i stated my position on this, officials of the NOC haven’t slept, they have been on their toes.

‘The NOC President Engr Habu Gumel and his team kept vigil, traversing between the Director of Competition, the Technical Committee and the World Athletics.

‘I have been duly informed that some other countries have similar issues, and these aforementioned bodies do not want to open a floodgate that would become difficult to manage.

‘Howbeit, I am not concerned about other countries. My interest is with my own country Nigeria and who is responsible for the non-listing of Favor Ofili.

‘Furthermore, I have been briefed that World Athletics submitted, that when the final list was published in July by it, AFN should have called its attention to the omission of Favor Ofili’s name. This still doesn’t address the issue.

‘At what point did her name drop out of the 100m race?

‘Who’s responsible for this?

‘What’s the motivation behind this?

‘What’s the trail of communication from AFN to NOC and to IOC and/or World Athletics?

‘All these are questions that must be answered immediately after the Olympics.

For now, I appeal to Favor Ofili to refuse to allow this distract her concentration in the remaining races for which she has been listed (I’m in touch with her on this).

‘And for the rest of Team Nigeria, particularly the athletics team, let them stay motivated to win,’ he wrote.