Nigeria’s Minister of Youths and Sports, Sunday Dare, on Friday apologised to 10 Nigerian athletes that were disqualified from the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The disqualified athletes took to the streets earlier on Friday to protest the shoddy manner the Ministry handled their registration and other formalities which made the International Olympic Committee’s Audit to ban them from the games as they contravened the rules.
But in a statement by the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports titled, ‘Statement: Ministry Wades to stem crisis’, the Minister promised to investigate the circumstances surrounding their disqualification.
According to the statement, “the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has stepped in to stem the further crisis by addressing the issues that have arisen concerning Team Nigeria athletes.
“The Ministry is looking into some of the issues raised by the athletes and they are being addressed as quickly as possible.
“The Honourable Minister on Thursday morning in a meeting spoke directly with the 10 track and field athletes who will not be competing and assured them of their welfare. He apologized to them for the unfortunate development that led to their exclusion and promised that it would be fully investigated.”
The statement also quoted the Director, Federation of Elites Athletes Department, Dr Simon Ebhojiaye, as saying that “the Ministry is abreast of the situation on the ground and addressing them. Payment of various allowances commenced last week and it’s ongoing.”
