Rio Olympics: Foreign Based Athletes To Get Flight Tickets This Week – Sports Ministry

This was contained in a statement issued by Nneka Ikem-Anibeze, the Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung.

The statement quoted Dalung as saying during a meeting with the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Solomon Ogba and staff of the ministry’s Federation of Elite Athletes Department (FEAD), in Abuja on Monday.

Recall that the Minister on Monday summoned Ogba and FEAD to throw more light on e-mail purportedly sent to athletes on behalf of the ministry.

According to the statement, Dalung had at the meeting described the mail as mischievous before reiterating the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that Nigerian athletes were well taken care of ahead of the Olympics.

“The author of that e-mail lacks the authority to write on behalf of the Ministry or even the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“At no time did we ask our athletes to seek for funds to travel, knowing too well that athletes are very fragile people to be managed.

“There are so many things that come to play in determining their success. It’s not just skills, training and determination.

“The psychology of an athlete at the point of contest is also very important. So, if you ask them to look for money to buy air tickets, they will be thinking how sincere could you be in terms of planning for Rio.

“The said letter which generated a lot of negative reactions is not the position of the ministry. “We have a responsibility to transport our athletes to and from anywhere they are, because they are on national assignment.

“Whosoever published that e-mail and his motive will definitely be investigated,’’ Dalung was quoted as saying.

The Nigerian Delegates are expected to depart the country on Aug. 1, with the Games expected to begin on Friday, Aug 5.