There are indications that some top officials of various sports federations participating in the ongoing 7th National Youth Games (NYG) in Asaba, Delta State, are under pressure not to send disqualified overaged athletes away from their various camps.
Several athletes were said to have been caught claiming to be Under-15 years. One of such athletes was Orisunayo Mailik Shuaib from Ogun State, whose participation in the ongoing NYG caused a furore in Asaba.
Shuaib was said to have participated in the 2021 NYG in Ilorin, Kwara State. He claimed to have been born in 2008, but here in Asaba, he put his date of birth at 2009.
“We thoroughly investigated the case of Shuaib and discovered that he is not eligible to participate,” a top official of AFN stated late on Wednesday.
“He has been disqualified from the competition, just like many others who are found to be over aged,” the official stated.
However, The Guardian, learnt yesterday that pressure is mounting on both the Main Organising Committee (MOC) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) not to send away athletes caught to be over aged from their various camps.
“Normally, all athletes caught to be over aged are supposed to be sent away from their various camps immediately, but we can’t do so now due to pressure from different quarters. So many states are involved in this issue, and nobody wants his or her athlete to be sent away from camp. We are still watching the situation,” the official stated.
