Coach Canvasses Better Welfare For Athletes

A wrestling coach, Enekpedekumor Okporu  in Lagos flayed what he called the neglect of athletes in other sports other than football.

Okporu told newsmen that amateur wrestling had suffered because of the long abandonment of the sport.

“Nobody cares about wrestling in the country and it extends to other sports except football although those other sports have been clinching medals for the country yet no appreciation,” he said.

Okporu, who won a gold medal at the 1991 All Africa Games, said no allowance had been paid the wrestlers currently in camp in Bayelsa.

The Bayelsa wrestling coach said the athletes were training for the World Senior Wrestling Championships scheduled for September 9 to September 19 in Istanbul, Turkey.

“We have been in camp for two weeks now yet the wrestlers have not got their allowance which is not good for sports development.

“Not minding that we are struggling to prepare for the qualification process for the London 2012 Olympics, yet the training facilities in the camp are inadequate and poor.

“For a long time now, we have been managing and are used to managing while improvising and that is how we have been coping in camp,” Okporu said.

Segun Akinlotan, Nigeria Wrestling Federation (NWF) Secretary, said the team would depart for the championships on September 11.

Akinlotan said that the competition would be preceded by the congress slated for September 10 while arrival had been fixed for September 9.

“We have decided to depart for Istanbul on September 11 because from our experience from previous championships one finds it difficult to train while in the venue of the event.

“Thus our departure has been slated for September 11 while our first event in Greco-Roman comes up on September 13,’’ Akinlotan said.

He said that five wrestlers and three officials would go for the competition which would serve as one of the qualifiers for the 2012 Olympics in London.