AIU queries AFN over discrepancies in age of four Nigerian athletes

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has demanded answers from the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) following discrepancies in the age of four Nigerian athletes (names withheld), who are eligible to compete in August’s World U-20 Championships in Lima, Peru.

The AIU wrote that it “has identified discrepancies regarding the date of birth (DOB) for at least four Nigerian athletes,” noting, “each of these athletes has at least two, and sometimes three or more, different DOBs, which have been used to enter competitions at different times.”

The concerned athletes, according to AIU, are: Elo Blessing Okpah; Samuel Uchenna Ogazi; Osatohanmwen Failth Osamuyi and Grace Oshiokpu.

The body saddled with ensuring the integrity of athletics said it “is not aware of any reason why these athletes appear to have completely different, multiple DOBs. It is also not clear whether the identification documents submitted by the athletes (such as passports) are true or whether they have been forged or falsified.”

In a June 7, 2024 letter to AFN President, Tonobok Okowa, and secretary, Rita Moshindi, and signed by Head of the AIU, Brett Clothier, the AFN was given until last Friday, June 21, 2024, to respond to the query.

Among other things, the AIU told the AFN to submit, among other things, the athletes’ current passport, all previous passports, birth certificates, national ID cards, documents submitted in support of passport applications, medical records, including hospitalisation records, dental records, vaccination records as well as education records, including matriculation records, school end-of-term/year reports and school examination results.

The body also said that it expects the AFN to furnish it with any correspondence between the athletes and the federation regarding their dates of birth.

One of the athletes is male (Ogazi) and was a double champion in the U-18 category at the African U-18/U-20 Championships last year in Ndola, Zambia, while the remaining three are females viz a sprinter, a hurdler and a long/triple jumper.

AIU said that one of the female athletes (Oshiokpu) had three different dates of birth, while the male had 2004 and 2006 dates of birth. Two of the athletes had different dates of birth in the AFN entry list for two of the federation’s competitions (in 2019 and 2021), but were registered by the federation with different dates of birth for the African U-18/U-20 championships in 2023.