Nigeria: Gara Gombe Slams Sports Authorities Over Ofili's Switch to Turkey

Former Chairman of Gombe State Football Association, Alhaji Ahmed Shuaibu Gara Gombe, has described Favour Ofili's switch of allegiance from Nigeria to Turkey as a predictable fallout of years of mismanagement in the country's sports sector.

Reacting to the recent development that saw the women's 150m world record holder join a growing list of athletes dumping the green-white-green, Gara Gombe said, "Favour Ofili switching her allegiance to Turkey didn't come to me as a surprise. In fact, such a move, as far as I know, is long overdue -- and she is not the only one on the queue. More will join her."

He lamented that the alarming rate at which Nigerian athletes are dumping the country for others should be treated as a national emergency.

"If you take inventory of Nigerians who have been switching their nationalities, the number is unfortunate. This is a national scandal -- losing one of your top athletes to another country -- and everywhere is quiet."

Gara Gombe did not spare the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), the Nigeria Olympic Committee, and the former Ministry of Sports, blaming them for mishandling Ofili's Olympic preparation.

"The statement from Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) trying to blame her is unfortunate. The Nigeria Olympic Committee, AFN, and the then ministry of sports were responsible for what is happening to Ofili. They thought they were doing damage to her but it's to Nigeria."

He recalled how Ofili was deliberately excluded from Olympic registration because she missed a competition in Cameroon.

"What they did was deliberate -- not to register her in the Olympic events because she didn't participate in Cameroon. They just wanted to punish her but ended up punishing the nation," he said.

Nigeria has a long history of losing top athletic talents to other nations, with notable names like Francis Obikwelu (Portugal), Gloria Alozie (Spain), Florence Ekpo-Umoh (Germany), Salwa Eid Naser (Bahrain), and Femi Ogunode (Qatar) among several others who switched allegiance and achieved international success representing their adopted countries.

Read the original article on Daily Trust.