Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in women’s hurdles, has dragged the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) into the spotlight over what she described as poor treatment of athletes at the World Championships – www.naijnaira.com reports.
Amusan went public with her frustration on social media, saying Nigerian athletes were handed plastic bags with a few items instead of proper kit packages like their peers from other nations.
Her complaints quickly went viral, and Blessing Okagbare, Africa’s former sprint queen, stood firmly in her corner.
Okagbare accused the AFN of repeating an old pattern, saying, “Those gears arrived and were in Tokyo in 2021, but they made sure the athletes did not get them.”
She dismissed the federation’s defense, mocking their justification about buying Amusan a business class ticket, and said it had nothing to do with the real issue.
The Punch newspaper quoted AFN president Tonobok Okowa, who insisted the athletes got the full kit from sponsors Hiracer, except travel bags, which he claimed were already provided by World Athletics.
Okowa also revealed that Hiracer supplied the gear free of charge, including footwear, and promised cash bonuses for medal winners of up to $30,000.
Article updated 1 month ago. Content is written and modified by multiple authors.
