The Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) says it has capable athletes to fill the vacuum should U.S.-based sprinter, Favour Ofili, decide to switch allegiance from Nigeria to another country, Guardian NG reports.
The relationship between Ofili and the AFN became strained at the just-concluded Paris 2024 Olympics following the disappearance of her name from the list that the federation submitted for the women’s 100m event.
While the AFN maintained its innocence, saying it listed Ofili for the 100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay at the Games, the athlete says that the federation should be held responsible. An online media report indicated that Ofili is considering switching allegiance to another country, just like hammer thrower and Paris 2024 Olympics silver medalist, Annette Nneka Echikunwoke, did following a similar administrative oversight, which prevented her from competing for Team Nigeria at Tokyo Olympics.
An AFN official told The Guardian, yesterday, that the federation would not stop Ofili from actualising her alleged plan, saying: “If truly Ofili is considering switching her allegiance from Nigeria to another country, it might be difficult for the AFN to prevent her. But Ofili must know some of the technicalities involved in such move because World Athletics’ rules state that for an athlete to be eligible to compete for another country, he/she must stay away from any athletics competition for a period of three years. It means Ofili will not compete in any athletics event between now and late 2027.
Ofili is fast becoming an uncontrollable athlete for the AFN. There are certain things we have been trying to keep away from the public concerning Ofili. At the World Athletics Championships in Oregon, United States in 2022, Ofili refused to stay with other Nigerian athletes in our camp that had bigger athletes like Tobi Amusan, Ese Brume and others. She moved into a hotel with her coach. We tolerated her.
”ofili did not come to Nigeria for the AFN National Trials, where athletes were picked for the world championships in budapest. We tolerated her, she also refused to train with other althlete to perfect their baton exchange and insisted on taking instruction only from her American coach. Our 4 by 100 relay team eventually lost the ticket to the final due to poor baton exchange between ofili and rosemary Chukwuma. we tolerated her.
In our National trial ahead of African games in Ghana she refused to show up. Our biggest disappointment was her refusal to compete in the semifinal of the 100m at the 23rd African senior championship in Douala, Cameroon july 2024.
Our immediate reaction was to stop Rosemary and her ofili from making the team to paris 2024 olympics but the sports minister John Owan Enoh invited them to his hotel for discussion in Douala even without our knowledge. it became difficult for AFN to wield the big stick against them.
Nobody in AFN is saying that Ofili should change her nationality to another country, but if she is desperate to go no one can stop her. What i want Nigerians to know is that Ofili’s unruly behaviour is fast spreading to some other athletes and that will be catastrophic for Nigeria. As i said we have other capable athletes who can fill the spot if she decides to go. it is better we have a team with disciplined athletes than to parade a squad laced with undisciplined athletes, the AFN official said.
