Assistant Director of Sports FCT Abuja department Iyiola Ogundele has condemned the screening process of the National Youth Games stating that the irregularities will jeopardize the growth of Sports in the County.
The Administrator in an interview with www.owosports.com.ng stated that the screening process of the National Youth Games has been corrupted and that if it continues this way with no imminent change it will destroy sports in the country.
“The National Youth Games has been an amazing initiative but the screening aspect of it that is not too okay, there are lots of irregularities right from the first edition”, he said.
“You will discovere that a screening committee will be set up by the ministry of sports to screen this athletes,
they will put them in a pool and start picking randomly this is above the age, this is in the age bracket.
“They should allow the sports federation that knows this Athletes, have their data base to do the screening, but they will just push this Athletes to the federation for them to conduct the Championship and people will come and start seeing someone who is over twenty years still claiming to be under fifteen.
“What played out at the table tennis court is a practical example, where you could count up to ten players who are way above fifteen years of age.
“When coming for this championship we will be told to come with the Athletes birth certificate and the international passport if available at the end of the day it won’t be useful they will will just keep it one side and start picking.
“The federations are complaining asking for the screening process to be left for them because they know this Athletes and have their data base they know their age they are the one that are using them for championship they have grassroots Programs they have all their records, but it unfortunate because it not going to help Nigeria at all we are going back day by day where we are to rectify we don’t do that we see the fact we refuse to follow am highly disappointed in what is happening here.
“I wouldn’t want to put the blames on anybody but everybody knows that even if you go through the minds of the federations they will tell you that they have been telling the ministry to allow them do the screening, we have also been shouting but each year this thing keep happening, they will give all the template but when you get here it a different thing you will see like what happening here, the federation knows this Athletes are above the age.
He however revealed that some Officials have turned the screening process of the national Youth Games as a business enterprise where they collect two thousand naira to print and issues out fake accreditation tag to disqualified Athletes.
“With my findings I discovered that the Accreditation tag that is supposed to admit each Officials and Athletes to the games is been done through the back door with two thousand naira, an Athletes and a coach just told me that after you’ve been disqualified they go meet some officials who will give them fake tag and when the federation sees the tag they admit you, that is what is going on”,
“The ministry of Youth and Sports should give the federation the freedom to do the screening of this Athletes.
