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2 July 2009
Abuja — Ahead of the 2009 IAAF World Championship billed for Berlin, Germany in August, technical director of Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Sunday Bada insists the appointment of Lee Evans as national coach is still subject to confirmation by the body.
In a chat with brilafm.net in Lagos, Bada said the AFN still has one or two other options, while stressing the need for employment of an American technocrat.
"The appointment of Lee Evans is still subject to the decision of the board. I think what they are doping for now is scouting for a coach but, for most of us, we think we have a lot of other options we can look into.
"I think the board has finally made up its mind on who to select but it's important that, at this stage we really used a foreign coach," said the former ace quarter miler.
Bada continued by forwarding an explanation of the undercurrents that led the AFN into making a move for Evans in the first place, saying Nigeria athletics needs an expert touch from America
"An American coach can strengthen our areas of strengths; which is the sprints, the humps and hurdles, where we have not been doing too well lately.
"So, there is a need for a paradigm shift from the present order to a more dynamic team," he reasoned.
He urged Nigerian athletes and coaches to improve on their performance, adding that he was unimpressed by the performance of the athletes in the two Classics held so far this year.
The former quarter-miler wondered why male sprinters should be clocking 10.5 seconds at a time their counterparts in other countries were running sub-nines in the 100-metre dash.
"How can our male athletes be returning 10.5 seconds to win in late June? I am not impressed at all.
"They ought to have done better than what we have witnessed so far; What it means is that their progression cannot go beyond 10.2secs or at best 10 seconds flat," he said.
He said the revival of the monthly Classics had exposed the low standard of Nigerian athletes.
However, he said regular competitions would afford the federation an opportunity to assess the performance of the athletes and coaches and design programmes for improvement.
Meanwhile, the Nkoyo Ibori Classics have been slated to hold between Friday and Saturday in Oghara, Delta.
The events listed for the meet in the male category are: 100, 400 and 800 metres, as well as 4x100 metres.
Others are: long jump, shot put, 110 metres hurdles, high jump, 5,000 metre, 4x400 metres and the hammer.
The females will take part in the 100, 400, 1,500, 4x100 and 4x400 metres as well as the triple jump, high jump, 100 metres hurdles, high jump, javelin, discuss and 10,000 metres.
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