Sports
No Communication On Convicted US-Based Nigerian Athletes –AFN President
President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, Tonobok Okowa, says the body is yet to receive any official communication from the World Athletics, the United States Department of Justice or schools over the involvement of two Nigerian collegiates athletes in a fraud case in the US.
Emmanuel Ineh, a long jumper, and Toluwani Adebakin, a sprinter, both risk 10 years in prison after being convicted in the United States for their part in a “complex fraud scheme.”
“I have not received any information about that, not officially,” Okowa simply told our correspondent when contacted over the matter.
Ineh represented Nigeria at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, where he won silver, while Adebakin is a 200m and 400m runner.
A further check on their profiles on the World Athletics website showed that both athletes had a number of collegiate competitions under their belts between 2018 and 2022.
According to a statement released by the US attorney’s office of the southern district of Mississippi, Ineh and Adebakin pleaded guilty to charges of “sending thousands of illicitly obtained proceeds to fraudsters in Nigeria as part of a larger mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.”
The scheme is said to have involved students of “multiple higher learning institutions in the United States.”
“Two collegiate athletes were convicted today before U.S. District Judge Kristi Johnson for transferring thousands of dollars to Nigeria as part of a complex fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Jackson Field Office,” the statement dated November 10 read.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.
