27 Athletes, 10 Officials Depart For African Athletes Meeta

A contingent of 27 athletes

and 10 officials will represent Nigeria at the 10th African Junior Championships scheduled for Gaborone, Botswana, an official said yesterday in Abuja.

The contingent’s Press Officer, Miss Felicia Mammah, told newsmen that the team would depart for the South African country, today.

The championships, which is being organised by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA), is expected to feature athletes from more than 40 countries.

Tidesports source reports that the championships is scheduled to begin tomorrow and end on Sunday, with participants expected to depart on Monday.

“The contingent is made up of a team of 27 athletes, five coaches, one physiotherapist and one press officer.

“The rest officials are one Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) secretariat official and two AFN board members, including the Federation President, Mr Solomon Ogba,’’ Mammah said.

The official, who is an information officer with the National Sports Commission (NSC), said adequate arrangements had been made for a successful outing at the championships by the contingent.

“I am aware of the fact that all necessary arrangements have been adequately made by both the NSC and the AFN for the team to do well in Botswana.

“Therefore, the expectations are that the team will return to Nigeria next week with many honours,’’ she said.

Efforts to get the number of events the Nigerian athletes would take part in from the AFN proved abortive as the secretariat staff, including Secretary-General Maria Wophil, could not readily provide the necessary information.

“I don’t have the information required right now. Maybe, it will be available later in the day or tomorrow (Wednesday),’’ Wophil said.

Our correspondent reports that the championships is a biennial event organised by the CAA with the first edition held in 1994 in Algiers, Algeria.