Femi Atoyebi
8 May 2008
Lagos — A new twist has been recorded in Nigerian wrestlers' attempt to qualify for the forthcoming Olympic Games in Beijing.
According to Nigeria Amateur Wrestling Federation President, Chief Austin Edeze, the earlier announcement that four wrestlers had qualified from the Olympic qualifier held in Tunisia last month has been reversed, leaving only one of them on the train to Beijing.
However, all hope is not lost with Nigeria having second chance of making it to Beijing at another qualifier coming up in Edmonton, Canada this month.
Explaining the reasons why the wrestlers were called for a fresh qualifier in Edmonton, Edeze said a logjam was created when Nigeria failed to attend an earlier World Championship in Baku, Azerbaijan, which was meant to precede the Tunisia championship.
Although the miss was waived after the federation explained its reason for missing the trip to Azerbaijan, trouble started when other associations protested Nigeria's supposed wildcard at the competition in Tunisia.
However, it's not all the weight categories that were competed for in Tunisia that are recognised for Olympic competition, in other words not all the gold medallists will be in Beijing. As at now, only one Nigerian wrestler has qualified for the Beijing Olympics.
He is Wilson Seware in the 122 kg free style.
"This is so because we failed to participate at the World Championship in Baku due to flight difficulties. We actually prepared our wrestlers for the championship but due to fire brigade approach Nigeria is used to, travelling arrangements were not properly concluded and while other wrestlers from around the world were weighing in Baku, we were in Nigeria awaiting air-lift.
When we eventually did, we got stuck in Dubai. The team's technical head, Daniel Igali used another route but when he got to Baku, he did not see any of his wrestlers. The rule is that if you miss the championship, you would not be in Tunisia, but graciously, the president of the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles was aware of our predicament, so he personally gave us a waiver, which was why we went to Tunisia. But after securing qualification, other associations whose wrestlers lost to ours protested the waiver, which was subsequently withdrawn at the last minute.
Wilson qualified because his weight category was not contested for in Baku, which gave him the pass to be in Tunisia even though he was not in Baku. "However, we have a new opportunity to qualify through another avenue in Edmunton, Canada. It will come up between 14th and 18th of this month and it is our hope that the wrestlers will repeat the earlier feat," explained Edeze.
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