Paris Olympics: Team Nigeria’s Woeful Performance Not Acceptable – SWAN

The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has described the performance of Team Nigeria at the 2024 Olympic Games as far below expectations.

A statement by SWAN President, Mr. Isaiah Benjamin, through the Association’s Secretary-General Amb. Ikenna Okonkwo said it was unacceptable for Nigeria to return from the just concluded Olympics without a medal.

The Association attributed the massive failure of the country in Paris to largely administrative incompetence and negligence which were obvious after Nigeria’s highly rated Track and Field Athlete, Favour Ofili’s name was found missing from the list of those meant to compete in the 100m event.

With the outcome of the Games, SWAN wondered why so many promises of medal haul were dished out by the Sports authorities when they were very much aware that there was nothing on ground, including the level of preparation to guarantee a podium performance.

“Before Games, Nigerians were meant to believe that all was well when the Sports Ministry kept assuring that the performance of Nigeria at 2024 Olympics would surpass the country’s best ever outing at the Atlanta 1996 edition.

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“The entire media fraternity in Nigeria was equally surprised to hear that the reason Nigeria didn’t perform optimally in Paris was due to lack of preparation as various Sports Federations, as it has now been exposed that the Federations only focused on ensuring that their athletes qualified for the Olympics but did nothing to prepare them for Olympics performance.

“The result from Paris goes to show that so much needed to be done that were not put in place, despite the huge amount of tax payers money that was made available by the federal government just for only participation.

“This circle has to be put to a stop because it is now obvious that Nigeria’s Sports needs a breath of fresh air.

“It is a well known fact that sporting talents abound in Nigeria but the management of these talents leaves so much to be desired. In the past and even at the just concluded Olympics, Nigerians, some of them who had competed for Nigeria, switched allegiance to other countries and did so well to win medals,” the statement said.

The SWAN leadership therefore called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency restructure the entire sporting sector and ensure that only people who have the knowledge and passion for the sector are given the opportunity to operate in such a critical sector.

“Sports is now a huge business venture in other parts of the world. So, to avoid a repeat of what happened in Paris Olympics, the Nigerian Sports sector has to be opened up for professionals and business minded persons to step in and salvage the situation.

“Nigeria has a reservoir of  personalities who are doing very well within and outside the country that have all it takes to uplift Nigerian Sports so that the youths who are mostly the worst hit in terms of unemployment and societal restiveness can make an honest living on the sector”.

However, SWAN also reminded the leadership of the Sports Ministry on the need to expedite action in unravelling the cause of previous administrative lapses at global competitions, especially as it concerns the inability of Ofili to take part in the 100m event in Paris.

“Dealing with administrative issues bedeviling Nigerian Sports will actually be the fulcrum upon which the resurrection and development of Sports in the country will be hinged on.

“That Nigeria’s Sports development is still backward is because necessary administrative bottlenecks have not been diagnosed and treated accordingly.”

SWAN also called for early preparation to 2028 Olympics to avoid the pitfalls of the past.