Paris Olympics: FG panel indicts AFN in Ofili’s omission

An investigative committee set up by the Federal Government has stated that the inactions of some officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria were responsible for Favour Ofili’s non-registration for the women’s 100-meter race at the Paris Olympics.

Nigeria failed to win any medals at the end of the 2024 Paris Olympics, held between the 26th of July and the 11th of August, 2024.

Added to the failure to secure any medals were the controversies, including the exclusion of Ofili from the women’s 100m race and the revelation by Ese Ukpeseraye that she had to borrow a track bike from the German team to compete.

In its report made available to journalists on Monday, the Committee Chairman, Mumini Alao, stated that the omission of Ofili’s name was traceable to the following organisations: the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, the Nigeria Olympic Committee, World Athletics, and the International Olympic Committee.

The Committee also mentioned that the Secretary General of the AFN, Rita Mosindi, was “negligent in her duty of communicating to the Ministry of Sports Development and the Nigeria Olympic Committee information about Ofili’s event status in a reliable and timely manner.”.

The Committee also faulted Samuel Onikeku, AFN Technical Director, who it said demonstrated “poor judgement” by failing to act on a “hint” of Ofili’s non-registration for the 100m event, adding that the situation may have been saved had Onikeku reported or acted on the information.

The report recommended that the officials be penalised by appropriate authorities and that the AFN should pay the sum of N8 million to Ofili for “the disappointment and depression that she suffered on account of her omission.”.

In the case of Ese Ukpeseraye, the Committee asked the athlete to write a formal apology to the Nigerian Cycling Federation and the Nigerian contingent for the embarrassment caused on account of her X (formerly Twitter) post, which stated she had to borrow a track bike.

“The cyclist, Ese Ukpeseraye, should write a formal apology to the Nigeria Cycling Federation (NCF) for the embarrassment that she caused the Federation and the Nigerian contingent to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on account of the unauthorised post that she made on social media, X (formerly Twitter), about the bicycle that she used for the cycling track event at the Olympics,” the post read.

The Committee had submitted its report to the defunct Ministry of Sports Development on October 22, a day before President Tinubu scrapped the Ministry, transferring its functions and responsibilities to the National Sports Commission, chaired by Shehu Dikko.