The Director-General of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), Oluwatoyin Gafar, has described those featuring overage athletes at age-group events as talent killers.
Gafar said this in an interview with newsmen in Ilorin on Monday.
He said that no athletes from Lagos State that participated at the 5th National Youth Games in Ilorin was outside the primary or secondary school age bracket.
“I sat with my people during the screening to ensure that we present athletes within the stipulated age bracket.
“Those that brought overage athletes to the National Youth Games are telling us that their youths cannot compete effectively with their contemporaries from other states,” Gafar said.
The Lagos Sports Commission boss said that in Lagos State, they discovered talents and nurtured them.
“LSSC does not just discover them only to abandon them.’’
He said the vision of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State is to make Lagos the sports’ hub of Africa.
“That is the mission statement that we are targeting and following; and we will follow it to the letter,” he said.
He debunked claims that Lagos State came to the Youth Games to dethrone Delta which had dominated the competition for the past years.
“We came in to put in the best that we have, and we also hope to get good results.
“The little results we have had so far are due to hard work and I am most grateful to the athletes for believing in themselves,” Gafar said.
He said the state would continue to improve yearly as it could boast now of athletes who had got national invitations.