Stephen Dunmoye
The Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) has denied knowledge of how Favour Ofili’s name was dropped from the 100m race for Team Nigeria in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics.
The athlete had earlier taken to her X (formerly Twitter) handle to disclose her omission from the 100m race she had waited her entire life to compete in at the Olympics.
According to her, “It is with great regret that I have just been told I will not be competing in the 100 meters at this Olympic Games. I qualified, but those with the AFN and NOC failed to enter me. I have worked for 4 years to earn this opportunity. For what?”
Ofili expressed her displeasure at the federation and the committee’s attitude in her post on Friday at 12:03 pm.
The 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist wrote: “Sadly, nothing has been done… I’m yet to see or hear anyone being punished for what the NOC and AFN did to me. Athletes shouldn’t be getting punished for things out of their control.”
She also questioned World Athletics for not holding the NOC and AFN accountable when qualified athletes were not registered for the events they qualified for.
“Who assigns federations and/or Olympic committees to enter athletes into the Olympic Games? Is it World Athletics? If so, should they not hold them accountable when they fail to do their job by not entering athletes in events they qualify for and want to compete?”
The 21-year-old athlete made it clear that the matter is not over. “NOC and AFN… This is not the first time you guys are doing this, so don’t think this is over because it is not.”
However, the AFN denied knowledge of her omission, stating that all due diligence had been done from their end.
According to AFN Technical Director Samuel Onikeku, “We registered Ofili for the 100m, 200m, and the 4x100m relay. We don’t know how her name got missing in the 100m. This is our stand as a federation.”