PHOTOS: Nigerian athletes off to US ahead of Olympics
BY Idris Shehu
In preparation for this year’s Olympics games, 16 Nigerian athletes have departed the country for a 3-week training tour in Texas, United States.
The athletes were seen off by Sunday Dare, minister of youth and sports development, at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport on Thursday.
During their stay in the US, the athletes are expected to engage in competitions ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo.
“Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport Abuja, I saw off 16 athletes and Technical hands to Texas USA for 3 weeks of camping and competitions ahead of the Olympics. We thank President Buhari who through the Finance Ministry has provided adequate funds,” Dare wrote on Twitter.
The training tour, however, remains a point of controversy between the ministry and the Athletics Federation Nigeria (AFN).
On April 29, the federation had announced that Team Nigeria won’t be participating in the World Athletics (WA) relays in Poland, blaming the failure on the insistence of the sports ministry to take the players to the US instead.
The athletics federations said the decision has shrunk Nigeria’s chance of competing at the relay events in Tokyo later this year.
See photos below:
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