Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Home-based athletes to train in Europe

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said home-based athletes who will represent Nigeria in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be camped in Europe to prepare for the Games.

The minister disclosed this while speaking to journalists on Nigeria’s preparations for the Olympics.

He said the foreign based athletes will benefit from the advanced sporting facilities in their countries of residence, while stressing the need to provide the same for the Nigerian based athletes.

“We are going to send a few of the home-based athletes outside the country for the necessary training. Some will go to Holland, other parts of Europe, some will even go to Kenya.” he said.

Mr Dare also assured that the ministry was working round the clock to secure funding to support the athletes to ensure they give the best for the country at the Games.

He expressed optimism that the “Adopt an Athlete” policy of the ministry will go a long way in boosting preparation for the Olympics.

READ ALSO: Tokyo 2020: Athletes to be camped for five months – Sports Minister

In a related development, the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has declared that suspended President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Ibrahim Gusau’s claim of autonomy from the Ministry of Youth and Sports was out of order.

The NOC committee also endorsed the removal of erstwhile AFN Technical Director, Sunday Adeleye, saying that he stands removed stemming from the Ministerial Panel on the crises during the 2019 World Athletics Championship in Doha.

According to the report, the leadership crisis in the AFN had been brewing since the last National Federation elections in June 2017 and worsened before the 12th African Games Morocco in August 2019 when some board members asked Gusau to step aside as president and be investigated.