Nigeria’s Olumide Oyedeji has been elected Secretary General of the World Olympians Association after polling 55 votes out of the 106 valid votes cast.
He secured 51.89 per cent of the votes to defeat Salvador Salguero of El Salvador and Liston Bochette of Puerto Rico, becoming the first African to hold that position. He takes over from Anthony Ledgard (OLY) of Peru.
Mr Oyedeji, current president of the Nigeria Olympians Association (NOA) and Third Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), will serve on the board for the next four years alongside President Pernilla Wiberg of Sweden and Treasurer Wei-Tsu Thomas of Chinese Taipei.
The current Chairman of the Nigeria Athletes Commission expressed gratitude to the former Executive Committee, led by Joel Bouzou (OLY), noting that their contributions to Olympians worldwide will remain part of the association’s history.
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He promised that integrity would guide every decision, transparency would define their actions, and inclusive leadership would be the standard. He stressed that every continent, every National Olympians Association and every Olympian matters, adding that they will listen, engage and act together.
Mr Oyedeji also announced that, under his leadership, the secretariat will work closely and constructively with the International Olympic Committee, a key partner in the Olympic Movement, through open dialogue, mutual respect, and shared purpose. He said the association will unite the Olympians’ family, empower National Olympians Associations, amplify Olympians’ voices and translate Olympic values into measurable impact.
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Other board members include Rosa Rakotozafy of Madagascar (Africa – Woman), Andrew Owusu of Ghana (Africa – Man), Claire Carver-Dias of Canada (Americas – Woman), Willie Banks of the United States (Americas – Man), Gilian Akiko Guevara of the Philippines (Asia – Woman), Deepak Bista of Nepal (Asia – Man), Stavroula Kozompoli of Greece (Europe – Woman), Igor Boraska of Croatia (Europe – Man), Julia Bell of Australia (Oceania – Woman) and Carl Probert of Fiji (Oceania – Man).
Drafted 42nd overall by the Seattle SuperSonics in the 2000 NBA draft, Mr Oyeycaptained D’Tigers to their first All-Africa Games gold medal in 2011 and was co-captain of the Nigerian team that won the country’s first AfroBasket title in 2015.
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