President of the Athletics Federation  of Nigeria (AFN) Tonobok Okowa has appointed Prof. Ken Anugweje as  the Head of the Medical and Anti Doping Commission of the Federation following the Athletics Integrity Unit’s decision to disqualify 10 Nigerian athletes from competing at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics due to uncompleted Out of Competition Tests (OCTs).

This was revealed in a press statement made by Okowa on Thursday, July 29th:

“The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has put in place appropriate measures to comply with Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules of World Athletics.

All our athletes resident in Nigeria and who qualified for the Olympic Games completed the three mandatory tests. Most of our top athletes resident in the USA also completed their tests. However, a few athletes in the American collegiate system were tested, but those tests were deemed not to have complied with WADA sample collection and analysis standards. It must be noted that no Nigerian athlete tested positive to prohibited substances.

Also to note is that 12 top Nigerian athletes have been cleared and are eligible for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The AFN bears responsibility for any lapses that may have occurred during the process and reassures Nigerians that our performances will not be negatively impacted.

The President of the AFN, Chief Tonobok Okowa has taken proactive steps to avoid future occurrences by appointing Professor Ken Anugweje as the head of the Medical and Anti- Doping Commission of the Federation.”

 

SHARE
Yemi Galadima is a Senior Sportswriter and Editor at Making of Champions. She has a bias for Athletics and was previously a Sports Reporter at the National Mirror, where she hosted a weekly column ‘On the Track with Yemi Olus’ for over two years. A self-acclaimed ‘athletics junkie’, she has covered national and international events live, such as the African Athletics Championships, African Games, Olympics and World Athletics Championships. She also freelances for World Athletics.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here