October 16, (THEWILL) – The Japanese government continues to support Morinari Watanabe’s campaign for re-election as president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) through its embassies across Europe and Africa.
It announced that it has reached an agreement with the Nigerian Gymnastics Federation (GFN) to assist in the training of its young athletes.
Watanabe’s promise of support was made during his second visit to the country, according to the Gymnastics Federation of Nigeria (GFN) president, Prince Kelvin Erhunwmunse, as the Japanese seeks re-election to a second term as FIG president. Watanabe was accompanied by Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, Japan’s Ambassador in Abuja, during his visit.
“The coming of the FIG president, Morinari Watanabe to Nigeria has been very impactful because we were together with the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare in Japan where commitments were made,” Erhunwmunse said.
“Nigeria gymnasts will gain scholarships to Japan to study and train. This has been sealed with the Japanese Ambassador. The training will among other things not only enhance the capacity building of the coaches/official, but also help improve the commitment of the gymnasts towards the game because of the conducive learning environment.
“Nigerians should expect more qualifications of gymnasts for the African, Commonwealth and Olympic Games. More equipment will be coming into Nigeria because a few weeks ago, the President of FIG, Morinari Watanabe was in Nigeria for the second time and a lot of promises were made.
“The Gymnastics Federation of Nigeria is moving to the next level.”
On his part, Watanabe claimed that his trip to Nigeria is unrelated to his re-election campaign and is intended to promote the development of gymnastics in Africa.
“The African Olympic Union invited me to attend its 40th anniversary in Abuja,” he said. “During this event, I was awarded a medal for contributing to the development of gymnastics in Africa.
“As FIG President, I often visited African countries to encourage gymnastics development on the continent, where the sport is underrepresented. That is part of the long FIG’s tradition of supporting the smaller gymnastics federations and offering assistance.
“I visited the facilities of the Nigerian Gymnastics Federation. I met a talented male gymnast, and I suggested that he could apply for Japan’s official sports development programme called ‘Sports for Tomorrow’ to train in Japan.
“Over the past years, several federations have used this governmental programme offering ordinary support for developing countries. Nigeria already held training camps in Japan twice – in 2016 and 2018 – thanks to this programme.”
In 2016, the 62-year-old Watanabe was elected as the new president of the FIG, succeeding Italy’s Bruno Grandi, who had stepped down after 20 years as the organisation’s leader. Watanabe was supposed to run for re-election last year, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was given an extra year.
At the rescheduled FIG Congress, which will take place between November 5 and 7 in the Turkish resort of Antalya, he will face a challenge from European Gymnastics President Farid Gayibov.
In 2017, the Azeri dethroned Georges Guelzec to become European Gymnastics President, a year after the Frenchman was defeated by Watanabe in the FIG election.
Watanabe is FIG’s ninth president and the organisation’s first Asian leader in its 140-year history.
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.
