The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, SWAN, FCT Chapter, has commended the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for ordering a probe into the disqualification of 10 Nigerian athletes at the just concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
It will be recalled that on July 20, 2021, the Athletics Integrity Unit of the International Association of Athletics Federations barred 11 Nigerian athletes, including highly-rated Blessing Okagbare, from the Tokyo Olympics for failing to meet requirements for out-of-competition drug testing and use of banned substances respectively.
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Reacting to the development in Abuja, chairman of the SWAN, FCT chapter, Bunmi Haruna, hailed the leadership of the House for taking the initiative to ask questions and proffer suggestions on how to prevent the recurrence of such shameful occurrences at future games.
He said, “We are happy that the leadership of the House of Representatives has finally listened to the cries of Nigerians to probe the shameful acts that also saw the disqualified athletes protest on the streets of Tokyo.
“The events that happened in Tokyo were shameful and should not be swept under the carpet as nothing happened.
“Everywhere we went, people kept asking why 10 Nigerian athletes got disqualified at the Olympics and the persons that are supposed to provide the answers have been walking the streets freely as if nothing happened,” he noted.
“We hope this will not be just another inquiry. We hope the House will get to the root of the events that happened before and during the Olympics to forestall future occurrences and waste of taxpayers’ money,” the SWAN Chairman reiterated.
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