TheCable

Ten Nigerian track and field athletes have been disqualified from the athletics event of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. 

The development was announced in a statement released by Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on Wednesday.

The affected athletes will not represent the country due to their failure to comply with the out of the competition testing (OCT) requirement.

“The Rule sets out minimum requirements for testing on the national teams of ‘Category A’ federations deemed to have the highest doping risk and considered as a threat to the overall integrity of the sport,” the statement read.

“The key requirement in Rule 15 is that an athlete from a ‘Category A’ country must undergo at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests (urine and blood) conducted no less than 3 weeks apart in the 10 months leading up to a major event. Only then do they become eligible to represent their national team at the World Athletics Championships or the Olympic Games.

“For the year 2021, the seven identified ‘Category A’ National Federations are Belarus, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, and Ukraine.

“Nigeria is the most affected country, not meeting the minimum testing requirements under Rule 15 for 10 athletes.”

TheCable gathered that the 10 affected Nigerians include Favour Ofili, Ruth Usoro, Chidi Okezie, Onyekwere Chioma, Echikunwoche Annette, Chukwuma Rosemary and four other home-based athletes.

When the athletics event of the Tokyo Olympics resumes on Friday, Nigeria will be represented by just 9 of the earlier listed 19 competitors.