I must uncover true story of Puma deal — Dare

Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Chief Sunday Dare, has said that he must know details of the Puma deal entered into with the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) in 2019, saying the experience at the just-ended Tokyo 2020 Olympics would boost Nigerian sports in no time.

Dare in a statement said that Team Nigeria did its best at Tokyo 2020, adding mechanism would be only put in place to ensure that the athletes perform better in subsequent major Games.

“The issue relating to the competition wears vis a vis the alleged arrangement with Puma is most unfortunate. I have demanded a proper investigation into this matter. Such an inquiry will unearth the truth about how some people tried to sabotage Nigeria’s participation and undermine the country and our Olympic athletes.

“There is much to hope for in the future. In Tokyo, most of our athletes were young and debutants – first time Olympians. They gave their all. If only we can support them in a sustained manner, they will give us future Olympic medals and raise high the flag of Nigeria at all venues of international sports competition. We have started building a new generation of young Nigerian athletes who will benefit immensely from the Nigerian Sports Industry Policy which will be placed before the Federal Executive Council for approval shortly. This policy will unleash the economic potential of our sports sector following President Buhari’s reclassification of sports as a business, away from recreation. This will be the foundation for sustained sector growth and maximization of our human resources.

“The Tokyo 2020 Olympics experience will move and challenge me to push our sports to a higher level and seek a better condition for all our athletes,” he said.

The Minister accepted responsibility for the disqualification of 10 Nigerian athletes from participating at Tokyo 2020, as he empathised with Blessing Okagbare, who was stopped from the Games after she was tested positive for human growth hormone from a sample taken on July 19.

“First is the mishap resulting in 10 Team Nigeria athletes being ruled ineligible to compete for missing their mandatory Out of Competition Test, OTC. When notice of this ruling got to me, I immediately mobilised my team and the AFN leadership to see how the situation could be salvaged. We mounted a vigorous appeal process with Athletics Integrity Unit, AIU and had the team members complete the tests. However, timing became the critical issue. Despite our energetic appeal, the deciding committee made its announcement which gave no latitude to our team members for what was only an inadvertent lapse.

“The adverse decision was painful to accept. We had prepared carefully and eagerly for the Olympics with the expectation that each person, federation, coach and athlete would also complete the necessary preparations required of them. As Minister, I ensured that all necessary approvals were done so that all requisite tests and exams could be timely completed. For me this unfortunate incident is most painful because these athletes had prepared long and hard and also in view of the challenging circumstances due to COVID-19.

“As the Minister I must bear some institutional responsibility for this lapse. I also had to depend and expect that each person in the long and often technical chain will perform their role expeditiously and with precision. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line someone failed in their responsibility and as Minister I bear the responsibility and brunt of criticism. But that is not enough. I must move to ensure that Nigeria never experiences another such moment. I have ordered a full investigation that will not only uncover what happened, but will also, recommend a process where such lapses can never occur in the future and initiate leveraging compliance monitoring technology to guardrail this.

“I have personally apologised to the affected athletes. Here and now, I personally apologise to all Nigerians for this ineligibility episode. The AFN has also taken responsibility and apologised to the athletes and to Nigerians.

“Already, a new Medical and Anti-Doping Commission has been set up to establish a fool proof system of testing and ensure Nigeria exits the A Categorization by WADA.

Also, Blessing Okagbare remains one of our best athletes who has served Nigeria well. We empathise with her. Nigeria will monitor closely developments around her temporary suspension and appeal,” Dare stated.

He believes Team Nigeria’s performance at Tokyo 2020 was also commendable.

“The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are now over, which means we can begin to honestly and objectively assess what was accomplished as well as what we must do to improve performance for future contests.

“Nigeria succeeded with two medals – a silver in wrestling won by Blessing Oborodudu and a bronze in long jump won by Ese Brume. Their performances were inspiring for they affirmed we can and should compete at the highest levels across the full range of sports events. Yes, we had wished and worked for more medals. But we must also put things in perspective. The medal outcome at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stands as Nigeria’s best result in the last 13 years.

“Moreover, the athletes of Team Nigeria did the nation proud. I thank President Muhammadu Buhari for his unrelenting support for sports and youth development and indeed for the opportunity to serve and lead our participation at these games. Team Nigeria placed 74th position on the final Olympic medal table among 205 participating countries, despite our small contingent to the games. We were eighth among 52 African countries that participated.

Team Nigeria excelled in many areas that engender hope for greater success in the future,” Dare said.