GLASGOW 2014:We are only after Medals- Popoola
The closest Nigeria has come to equaling that spectacular achievement was at the last event held in Delhi, India where the team got a total of 33 medals (four short of what was obtained in 1994) 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals, finishing ninth on the overall medals table in the 2010 tournament.Nigeria […]
The closest Nigeria has come to equaling that spectacular achievement was at the last event held in Delhi, India where the team got a total of 33 medals (four short of what was obtained in 1994) 11 gold, eight silver and 14 bronze medals, finishing ninth on the overall medals table in the 2010 tournament.
Nigeria will be competing in boxing, wrestling, weightlifting, shooting, athletics, table tennis and Para-powerlifting at the event in Scotland.Secretary-General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Mr. Tunde Popoola, is in high spirits ahead of the commencement of the event saying the competition would be a spectacular one because all hands are already on deck to ensure that the country has an outstanding performance in Glasgow.
“We would only be participating in sports that we believe we have medal winning prospects. “We are going with the precise number of athletes that would be competing in the Games and nothing more and there will be no room for jamboree. “We are assuring Nigerians that we are not going into the Games for any other thing but to win medals,” Mr. Popoola said in a recent chat with reporters.
The only downside to the preparations has been lack of funds that should have been released to the contingent long ago to enable the team undergo training tours abroad, this was confirmed by President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Solomon Ogba, who said he had to solicit funds from private concerns to meet obligations towards the games.
“I personally visited the athletes abroad to provide monetary incentives, in addition to organising championships without funds from the NSC,” Ogba said in a recent interview.
Interestingly, Director General of National Sports Commission (NSC), Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye, few weeks ago said the Sports Ministry had budgeted N4billion for the games.
This development has caused a lot of issues with the contingent departing the country in batches instead of the usual way where the athletes were handed over to the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) as representative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Nigeria before flying to the Games as a group.