President, Nigeria Taekwondo Referees Association (NTRA), Ferguson Oluigbo has called for improvement in time management in subsequent editions of the National Sports Festival (NSF).
Oluigbo told newsmen yesterday in Lagos that there was poor time management in the taekwondo event of the the just-concluded 19th National Sports Festival (NSF).
He said that the situation had psychological and physical effects on athletes and officials.
The Tide reports that the 19th NSF tagged, ‘Abuja 2018 World Series Edition’, was held in Abuja from December. 6 to December 16.
It featured 37 sports.
Oluigbo said: “Expectations were high in taekwondo event after six years of waiting; athletes were hungry for festival action but they were again subjected to long waiting before the fights.
“Most of the protocols were not necessary at that point in time because they resulted in starting the event as late as 5.00p.m., making athletes and officials to stay till 4.00a.m.
“The weighing-in exercise was not carried out in time, and athletes had to wait for long.
“That was bad and needed to be pointed out because it was not in the best interest of the practitioners and even the fans; the five-day event stretched to six days.”
He hailed the athletes and the officials who  participated in the event for their patience and understanding, expressing satisfaction that, in spite of the lapses, some states still proved their mettle.
The association president noted that the just-concluded festival went a long way to restore lost hope of athletes and spurred them to commit themselves in training for improved performances.
“For six years, athletes were training, waiting and suffering postponements of this particular festival.
“However, the consolation is that the festival is back and will be observed biennially; athletes will be inspired to improve their skills,” he said.
Oluigbo noted that the festival had Rivers as the overall winner in taekwondo event with seven gold medals, while Kano got five and Lagos, two.