In the aftermath of Nigerian sprinter Favour Ofili’s omission from the women’s 100m entry list at the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) is facing scrutiny, with top officials facing possible sanctions and the federation being urged to provide financial compensation for the lapse.
A recent panel of inquiry, established by former Sports Minister John Owan Enoh, has uncovered procedural lapses and miscommunication within the AFN that led to Ofili’s exclusion from the Olympic event. The inquiry’s recommendations highlight the need for accountability among sports officials and federations.
The panel’s findings indicate that while no single official has been conclusively identified as directly responsible for the oversight, the negligence of two AFN leaders—Technical Director Samuel Onikeku and Secretary General Rita Mosindi—has been highlighted.
Onikeku faces sanctions for not reporting “hints” and “rumors” about the omission of Ofili from the event, a lapse seen as poor judgment on a critical matter.
Mosindi, meanwhile, has been criticized for failing to provide adequate documentation to support her claim of submitting Ofili’s registration to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), leading to accusations of negligence.
The panel has recommended a monetary compensation of $5,000 for Ofili, a symbolic gesture to acknowledge the emotional and professional setback the incident may have caused her. This payout is also intended to send a strong message within the sporting community—that administrative lapses affecting athletes’ careers will no longer go unpunished.
As a further measure, the newly formed National Sports Commission (NSC), led by Mallam Shehu Dikko, is tasked with implementing the panel’s recommendations.
The involvement of the NSC is seen as a pivotal step in ensuring that federations like the AFN uphold higher standards of accountability, with the potential for stricter oversight of sports administrators and federations in Nigeria.
This incident has triggered a broader discussion within the Nigerian sporting community regarding the often-overlooked administrative side of sports.
Athletes and stakeholders have expressed hopes that this episode will lead to reforms and ensure that athletes are not deprived of their opportunities by procedural errors in the future.