Sports
Igali Calls For Sustained Funding For Wrestling
Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) Hon Daniel Igali Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) Hon. Daniel Igali, has called for sustained funding and sponsorship of the sport following the country’s historic performance at the recently-concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan.
In Tokyo, Commonwealth champion Blessing Oborududu, 32, won Nigeria’s first-ever medal in wrestling, claiming silver in the 68kg final.
With the likes of 3-time World Championships medallists Odunayo Adekuoroye, 27, and 2-time Commonwealth champion Aminat Adeniyi, 28, unsuccessful in their attempts to win medals in Tokyo, the NWF boss said he has a long-term ‘succession plan’ for the top athletes.
However, the World and Olympic champion Igali stated that the ‘succession plan’ won’t materialise without the support and sponsorship from the private and corporate sectors.
“My goal is to ensure that I have a sustained succession plan for most of these athletes,” the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Youth and Sports said. “Which means, in terms of funding too, we need to have better communication even with the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“Of course you know sports like basketball have funding directly from the Federal House of Representatives – from the budget. And I think wrestling deserves that status as well.
“So, we need to do a bit more in terms of sustained funding, not only from the Federal Government, but we need to look at, especially with the small or little success we had at the (Tokyo 2020) Olympics, for us to have private individuals and/or corporations that will give us that assurance of sponsorship for the next three, the next eight years.
“So, I think those are the foundations I want to lay. And once you’ve done that, you are rest assured that anyone coming after you will be starting on a pretty level playing field. They wouldn’t have to be climbing a very high mountain to maintain the success we’ve had.”
Igali further assured potential sponsors of the NWF’s transparency, while highlighting the importance of their support to wrestling.
“Well, I want to assure every, either, individual or corporation that is prepared to support the Nigeria Wrestling Federation that they have very trustworthy leadership,” he added. “Leadership that is very responsive, and that has over time, judiciously used funds that had been appropriated for any purpose.”
“We feel that to keep up even at the Commonwealth level, we need funding from private investors.
“Look at India for instance now. India and Nigeria were almost at par just four, five years ago. In fact, at the Commonwealth Games, our female team beat both Canada and India. But as we’re talking now, India is almost edging Nigeria because they have funding from Tata Motors to the tune of $3m (over N1.2b) a year.
“They just went to the Cadet World Championships and became overall Team champions. That tells you that in another four, five years, the 17-year-old kids will be 20, 21, and they will be world-beaters.“What the Nigeria Wrestling Federation doesn’t have now is to be able to even expose our young talents to international competitions because we don’t have the funds. And we can only do that when we have private investors partner with us on a long-term basis.” he added.
“Winning a gold medal in Tokyo is the biggest goal,” he told the International Tennis Federation’s magazine.
“Even though I have three medals from past Paralympics, gold in Tokyo would be so special and mean so much to me.”
Ugandan swimmer Kukundakwe could become one of the faces of the Tokyo Paralympics when she competes aged just 14.
Kukundakwe, who was born without her right forearm and also has an impairment to her left hand, is aiming to change attitudes in her home country, where she says people with disabilities are “not considered normal”.
She says swimming has given her confidence, allowing her to ditch the baggy sweaters she used to wear to cover her arms and hands.
Now she’s aiming to make a splash as the youngest athlete at the Games, after qualifying for the women’s 100m breaststroke.
“I don’t really expect much from swimming at the Paralympic Games since it’s my first time,” she said.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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