28th August, 2013
Team Nigeria contingent to the African Badminton Cup of Nations 2013 returned to the country last night with sad tale of neglect by the National Sports Commission, NSC, which resulted in their not too impressive outing at the continental competition.
The team, which were sponsored by the President of the Badminton Federation of Nigeria, Danlami Senchi to the competition in Mauritius, could only won 1 gold medal, four silver and two bronze medal.
Speaking at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Ikeja last night, Captain Olaoluwa Ebenezer Fagbemi, said that the tournament was tough because Nigeria played with the likes of South Africa and hosts, Mauritius who trained in China before the competition.
“It was so sad that we lost our defending champions title because the country failed to prepare us for the competition. It was our president who financed the trip to Mauritius, the NSC abandoned us to our fate,” said Fagbemi.
One of the players, who won a gold medal in the Women’s Singles, said that “the NSC made us to suffer with no preparation. I was called for this competition a night before the morning we went to Mauritius. No prior information to me that I had a tournament to play and no preparation. We tried our best at the African tourney but we could not match other teams who had camped months before coming to Mauritius. It was so sad.
Coach of the team, Danjuma Fatauchi corroborated what his players, saying that the federation should not be saddled with the responsible of the team alone. He wanted the NSC to wake up to its responsibilities to all sports in the country.
—Taiwo Adelu