July 14, (THEWILL) – The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has responded to Ezinne Abba’s scathing online outburst in which she made damning claims regarding the reasons behind her exclusion from Team Nigeria’s participation in the World Championships in Oregon, United States, which is set to begin on Friday.
On Instagram, the 21-year-old University of California, Berkeley, graduate claimed she was only informed of her exclusion 40 minutes before her flight to Oregon and that the AFN and the Minister of Sports were accountable for her dashed hopes of representing Nigeria after only recently switching her allegiance from the United States to Nigeria.
But, Adisa Adeniyi Beyioku, the Secretary General of the AFN, responded by saying that Abba did not take part in any individual competition during the Nigerian Championships selection trials held in Benin City last month, and therefore, did not meet the conditions for merited inclusion, as is the policy of the Federation. Her inclusion was, therefore, at the discretion of the AFN.
They had a reason to exercise caution on her participation because, as Beyioku noted: “Miss Abba has not also completed the mandatory three out-of-competition tests for the championships as she was not under the radar of the Nigerian anti-doping agency until recently when her change of allegiance from the United States of America to Nigeria was granted by World Athletics.”
Beyioku went further to reprimand the athlete: “The AFN is appalled that Miss Abba has dragged the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare, into a matter that is a hundred percent at the discretion of the AFN. The Sports Ministry does not interfere in the running of the Federation. She should have known her selection is not automatic and must explain why she chose to publicly drag the name of the AFN and the Sports Minister in an inappropriate manner.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
