Ali wants NUGA Games hosts to have own equipment

Ali spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos against the backdrop of the problems at the 23rd Games which ended on Sunday at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). He said that at the 23rd NUGA Games, they wanted to hire from the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) equipment, including timing […]

Ali spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos against the backdrop of the problems at the 23rd Games which ended on Sunday at the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

He said that at the 23rd NUGA Games, they wanted to hire from the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) equipment, including timing devices, but they did not.

“The AFN offered the equipment but insisted that it is their officials that will handle them, a situation that almost marred the officiating of some of the events at the competition,’’ he said.

Ali told NAN that once the hosts purchased their own equipment they would be in charge of every aspect of the competition.

He said that UNIBEN not only hired the equipment from AFN but were also forced to put up with the operators.

This arrangement, he added, was accepted by NUGA because its officials had to be taught how to operate the hired equipment by AFN officials.

The gold medallist at the 1991 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand, said that future hosts should strive to acquire their equipment and teach their officials how to use them.

Ali commended UNIBEN for putting up a great show plus the ambience provided at the Games.

He said that every event took place on the campus and the athletes did not have to move around the city to get to the venues of competitions.

Ali, who was the Meets Director for athletics at the Games, praised the standard of officiating, saying: ´I am quite impressed with how the proceedings went.

“The near flawless officiating in a way minimised incidents of protest by those not satisfied with certain calls by officials.

“Officials were also paid their emoluments on time without any rancour compared with some editions in the past,’’ he said.

Ali said that he was disappointed with the AFN for not sending coaches to monitor the performances of the talents at the Games.

“Coaches from the AFN ought to have been there to monitor proceedings to take advantage of the emerging talents.

“But unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found and yet they were aware of the competition,’’ he said.