Ministers of Sports in ECOWAS in Abuja on Tuesday expressed concern over the poor performance of countries in the sub-region in international competitions.

The ministers, under the aegis of the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA) Zones 2 and 3, said the sub-region's performance at the 2012 Olympic Games held in London was discouraging.

Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, Nigeria's Minister of Sports and host of the meeting, said that the inability of ECOWAS countries to win any medal at the last Olympics called for serious concern.

Abdullahi said it was necessary to review the performance of the sub-region in sports to forestall future occurrences.

He pointed out that the sub-region should always pride itself on occasions like the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), where four West African countries qualified for the semi-finals after seven played in the quarter-finals.

"It is worthy of note that our sub-region produced seven out of the eight quarter finalists and all the four semi finalists, thereby winning all available medals and trophies at the AFCON competition," Abdullahi said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting of the ECOWAS ministers of sports was to harmonise the position of SCSA Zone 2 and 3 on certain issues, ahead of the SCSA general meeting.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Cote d' Ivoire later in the year.

The issues to be harmonised include the hosting of the Intergovernmental Committee for Physical Education and Sports by Nigeria, scheduled to hold from March 5 to March 6 in Abuja.

Another issue is the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for Physical Education and Sports meeting billed for Berlin between May 28 and May 30.