Officials Urge Athletes To Shun Drugs

Traditional Sports officials

have decried the increasing wave of banned substances among athletes, including traditional sports athletes, saying the trend needed to be checked.

The officials disclosed this at the Lagos State Sports Festival tagged: “Ibile Games.”

The officials, who officiated at the Games, said that taking banned substances to enhance performance can be counterproductive.

They said they believe that sports should not be a-do-or-die affair but a career for a meaningful well being.

Games in traditional sports were Ayo, Abula, Dambe, traditional boxing, Kokowa, traditional wrestling and Langa, traditional combat sport.

While Ayo and Abula were not physical and do not need much energy to play but experience, the other three were physical and stressful.

The Chairman, Referee Traditional Wrestling of Nigeria, Dickson Omoro, said that the habit was common these days and needed to be checked.

Omoro said that athletes discovered using any hard drug in the traditional sports would be automatically disqualified from the Games.

“Such an athlete will not also have the opportunity to compete in the forthcoming 18th National Sports Festival in Lagos in November,’’ he said.

“I have noticed the use of drug by some athletes in some of our competitions and this must stop for future sake,” the referee said.

He said that athletes instead of taking to banned substances should try their best, saying it was the only way to go far in their career.

Also speaking, Lurky Izekor, the head coach of Dambe, advised that drugs would definitely limit the performance of athletes in the future although it seemed good to them now.

Izekor promised that greater efforts would be made to fight the menace to the barest minimum in the traditional sports.

“I have personally counselled our athletes on the need to do away with the use of banned drug when coming to compete in Kokowa and Dambe.

“Anyone found with drug will be disqualified from participating in competitions,” he said.

The head coach urged coaches to be alert and replace any athlete caught with banned substances.