By Olawale Ayeni, Abuja
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare has insisted on hosting the 2020National Sports Festival (NSF) before the end of the year.
Recall that in March, Dare announced the indefinite postponement of the festival, which was initially billed to hold from March 22 to April 1 in Benin City, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
But with the recent ease on sporting activities across the country, the minister said he’s optimistic that the event will be held this year.
“We hope that the sports festival can happen. Now that football and contact sports are back, it means there is hope for the national sports festival,” he said.
He further stated that the ministry will meet the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 with detailed plans on hosting a successful game amidst the pandemic.
“We will be approaching the PTF with a plan so that we don’t have a concentration of 5000 to 7000 athletes in Benin City at the same time”.
“It’s going to be a longer period of five weeks; we will bring in our athletes in batches to compete and go back. So, we are glad because it’s almost certain that we will have the sports festival this year”.
“But we have to present the PTF with a working plan in detail that meets the protocol and that shows that we are ready and then we can have the sports festival” he added.
Recall that the National Council on Sports has scheduled her meeting for October 22 to 23, 2020, in Lagos State, to discuss the possible return of the NSF.
Referred to as the Nigerian Olympics, the NSF was designed to showcase the best athletes in the country.
Delta State is the defending champions of the NSF following their spectacular show at the last edition held in 2018 in the nation’s capital.
