The newly elected President of the Cycling Federation of Nigeria (CFN), Giandomenico Massari, has reiterated his desire to raise the level of cycling in Nigeria.
Massari who was re-elected unopposed in the 30th September’s sports federation election said his target will be to develop the game at the grassroots level.
He was voted overwhelmingly by the 15 Board members accredited for the exercise on the strength of his selfless service to reposition the sport of cycling in Nigeria.
“We have a lot of things to do in cycling and grassroots competition will be our major work to catch raw and young talented players. “We need to consolidate. We have seen what we are lacking, and some performance can be highly elevated and training brought in. But planning is fundamental. But we will work hard to get the latest and modern equipment.
“Top of my priority is planning and training. To succeed we must plan our programmes and train not only our athletes but the officials.
“We must also relate with the international bodies to raise our standards, get courses for our commissaries and coaches to improve the standard of the sport in Nigeria.”
The president disclosed that the country has qualified for the first time for the World Championship in track, stressing that “we have a Velodrome that is a blessing but it was grounded for a very long time.”
It will be noted that Nigeria had won the bid to host the 2022 Track Africa cycling championship in Abuja.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and the African Cycling Confederation (CAC), signed the contract approving Nigeria as the host of the Track Africa championship, between July and August 2022.