TheCable

Sunday Dare, minister of youth and sports development, on Friday, pledged to provide necessary support for organisers of Nigerian Sports Award (NSA) with a view to motivating the country’s athletes.

Dare, who spoke in his office in Abuja where the NSA panel members paid him a courtesy visit, said the ministry’s support for the award, which he described as laudable, would contribute to the athletes’ motivation to excel in their various fields.

“The Ministry can collaborate and key into the activities of Nigerian Sports Award by providing financial support for the organisation and this would go a long way to show our commitment,” he said.

In the meantime, the nominations of sports men and women for the various categories of awards for the 2019 edition will close on Sunday.

Kayode Idowu, executive director of NSA, said the 2019 award was still open to the general public, particularly sport loving community, to nominate deserving athletes of their choices.

He also called on the participants to exploit the next few days to nominate their favourite athletes who have recorded excellence performance in the sports fields during the year for the award programme.

“We urge the general public to visit the award website to nominate their preferred choice of athletes,” Idowu said.

“The nomination can be done through three channels; Online – www.nigeriansportsaward.com/nominations, the manual entries (hard copies) – nomination forms available at all Sports Federation Secretariats across the country or via social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook) using each category hashtag.

“For example, to nominate your Footballer of the Year (Women), all you need to do is type #NSA2019 (Space) #FOTYW (Space) name of nominee (Space) @ngrsportsaward and tweet. Hashtags to be used include; Basketball Player of the Year – #BPTY, Coach of the Year – #COTY, Discovery of the Year– #DOTY, Footballer of the Year (Women) – #FOYW, amongst others.”

There are a total of 22 categories open for nomination to the general public in this year’s edition of the award.

The NSA is the only Nigerian awards dedicated to recognizing the achievements of sports men and women, both present and past, that have shone brilliantly in the sporting world.

The award honours leadership, vision, innovation and outstanding accomplishments providing an opportunity for sports stars to be celebrated on national and global platforms.

This year’s edition of the award is scheduled for November 29, at the prestigious Eko Hotel & Suite in Lagos.