The President of Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Ibrahim Gusau has stated that 12 athletes have so far qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games.
He made this known during a press conference while saying also the federation will soon begin preparing the athletes have already qualified for the Games with camping and other training programmes.
“There will be camping and training for the athletes as suggested by the Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.
“The board of the federation just met to fine-tune some of the activities that will lead to the Games in Tokyo and we will soon roll out the programme,’’ he said.
Gusau said the minister had met with the federation’s board members, asking it to come up with a comprehensive plan for the athletes on the issue of performance at the Games.
“Arrangements are in top gear to ensure hitch-free participation at the Games. All we need is for the athletes to work hard for a successful outing at the Games.’’
“The federation will henceforth cut the number of competitions the athletes will participate in to avoid fatigue,’’ the AFN president said.
Gusau further expressed his concerns about the recent happenings in the athletics federation, with emphasis on Team Nigeria’s participation at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
“We appreciate the fact that marathon is fast developing here and we are all gradually building a marathon culture in Nigeria.
“But since the federation is the governing body of athletics, under which marathon races fall, there is a need for greater involvement of the federation in their organisation.
“In this regard, we will soon roll out our plans on this. The federation has set out plans to provide platforms and support to organisers and private individuals who want to venture into organizing athletics events,’’ Gusau said.
