By Daily sports on November 25, 2020

Nigerian athletes risk missing out on featuring at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games after the country was listed among eight others with the highest doping risk, The PUNCH reports.

They may also not be allowed to take part in major games and championships in 2021 unless they undergo at least three out-of-competition doping tests before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

According to the Athletics Integrity Unit, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria has failed to comply with Rule 15 obligations of the AIU and have been moved to category A from B.

Nigerian athletes last underwent doping test at the 2019 AFN All Comers Meet in Ijebu Ode.

Rule 15 of the AIU states that, “Effective anti-doping programmes in their respective jurisdictions must be carried out quarterly to ensure that strong, compliant anti-doping programmes are being applied and enforced consistently and effectively so that clean athletes can have confidence that there is a fair competition on a level playing field and that public confidence in the integrity of Athletics can be maintained.”

Morocco, Kenya, Russia, Albania, Belarus and Serbia are other countries listed by the AIU with the highest doping risk.

AFN Technical Director, Sunday Adeleye, told our correspondent that the sport ministry has hampered the federation from making the right moves to ensure their athletes are clean.

“The sports ministry is not allowing the AFN to do their job and that’s the implication of what we are seeing.  They are interfering with the affairs of the federation.

“The AFN is not the body that controls doping as the ministry has hijacked it which is not supposed to be so. The ministry have not funded the Nigeria Anti-Doping Agency and currently we suspect a whole lot of athletes.

“If the ministry doesn’t fund the department we can’t carry out doping on these athletes. The last time we tested these athletes was at the AFN All Comers Meet, Ijebu Ode 2019 and a lot of them were caught. The ministry should allow the federation work so they will be accountable,” Adeleye told The PUNCH.

Source Daily sports

Posted November 25, 2020

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