Sports
21St NSF: Ogun Athletes Protest Over Maltreatment
The Ogun State contingent to the 21st National Sports Festival in Delta State were expected to arrive in Asaba on Tuesday but did not as protests over underpayment of allowances and welfare rocked their departure for the games on Tuesday.
The athletes staged a protest on Tuesday morning to register their displeasure at how they have been treated and denied proper pre-tournament preparations by the management of the Sports Council.
According to one of the athletes who spoke with journalists on anonymity, the Sports Council intentionally made them go through stress and did not shown concern about their welfare.
“The allowances we were given are not in tandem with what we earn traditionally. They have reduced it beyond what can even take care of us individually. No camping exercise allowance, and as we are about to head to Asaba, they still went ahead to reduce what should be given to us. Because of that, we have decided to resort to this protest and we are not just protesting, we won’t be goinúg to Asaba if this is not addressed as fast as they can.”
While reacting to the situation, Director of Sports, Ogun State Sports Council Iyabode Rotimi confirmed that the athletes were already boarding to depart for Asaba as at the time our correspondent got in touch with her, suggesting that the situation had been brought under control.
“We are loading our team for onward travelling to Asaba at the moment. It’s very rowdy here, so I won’t be able to answer your questions,” Rotimi said on Tuesday.
Team Ogun won 16 gold, 23 silver and 36 bronze medals to place 8th at the last edition in Benin City, Edo State.
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.