Athletics: Nigeria Targets Good Outing In Olympics

The Athletic Federation of Nigeria, AFN, has said that its major concern is to organise series of training programmes to prepare Nigerian athletes for the 2012 Olympic Games in England so that they will come out with outstanding performances.

The federation’s technical director, Sunday Bada, said the AFN knows its area of strength in the All Africa Games billed for Mozambique in September, adding that the body would not relent in its  efforts to top the medal table in the athletics event of the Games.

He revealed that the best athletes in Mozambique would make the Nigerian team to the World Athletics Championship.

Bada said the AFN has concluded plans to invite its best athletes to participate in the World Athletics Championship, which according to him, would serve as an avenue to put Nigerian athletes to test ahead of the Olympic Games next year.

He said the AFN is working seriously on its area of strength especially in the relay event in order to sustain the country’s records in the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, as part of the effort to curb doping in the world athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations, IAAF, is is planning to press criminal prosecution against athletes who uses performance enhancing drugs.

Bada told www.nigeriasportnes.org that the IAAF is taking the fight against doping seriously hence the plans to include criminal charges against any athlete who tested positive to performance enhancing drugs during and after games.

The former sprinter said the use of drugs by some of the athletes is giving the AFN problem in sourcing for sponsors for its programs as organisations would not want to be dragged into any drug scandal.

“It will surprise all to know that the IAAF has concluded plans to prosecute drugs cheat in a criminal court of law so as to serve as deterrents to other athletes who would want to use drugs for competitions.

“Sometimes athletes complain about the AFN not getting sponsors for programs, but there are times we find it difficult to get these sponsors because of doping. We all need to fight against drugs as this makes things worse for us,” he said.