3rd June, 2013
Fidelis Obi, Head Coach of the Male U-20 Handball team, has expressed worry over the current state of affairs at the Handball Federation of Nigeria (HFN).
“I just hope that the issue in the national federation’s election is resolved early enough so that normal activities can resume,’’ he said.
Obi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the court injunction that stopped the inauguration of the incoming board was capable of derailing the HFN’s programmes.
He added that the issue had not prevented the players from training on their own, pending their formal invitation for a closed camping programme for the forthcoming World Challenge Trophy.
The World Challenge Trophy is slated to hold in Djibouti on a yet-to-be-disclosed date in August.
He added that he was constantly in touch with the players, located in different parts of the country, on telephone.
“The national camp is very imperative but while we are waiting for the formal invitation by the authority, players are training regularly with the assistance of their coaches.
“The competition will attract teams from different parts of the world so we need to make sure that our players are in tune with all the technicalities,’’ he said.
The coach also complained that the National Sports Commission (NSC) had yet to formally receive the teams, after their creditable outing at the continental championships in April in Djibouti.
“It’s not too encouraging that up till this moment, the trophy we won at the continental competition in Djibouti for the country has not been officially presented to the Director-General, NSC,’’ he said.