Amusan’s plight self-inflicted - Gora

Elias Gora, a retired sport administrator on Wednesday said athletes of Tobi Amusan’s pedigree owed it a duty to the society to do the right thing at the right time.

Gora, a former Secretary-General of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) against the backdrop of Amusan’s suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU).

NAN reports that if the suspension is not upturned, Amusan could miss the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, from Aug. 19 to 27, as the global body has debunked reports that Amusan had been cleared to participate in the championships.

The AIU is responsible for overseeing anti-doping measures in global athletics to guard the integrity of the sport and maintain fairness to all athletes.

Amusan’s travails started when AIU suspended her for missing three drug tests within 12 months, which attracts two years’ suspension.

Amusan’s name was excluded by Athletics Federation of Nigeria from the competition as she is currently under doping investigation by AIU.

“Now should the federation be blamed? I don’t think so, she is an adult who knows what is good for her. I wouldn’t want to blame the federation for that; her address is there, she put herself in a very difficult situation.

“She has to face the penalty by missing the World Championships which is what matters the most, it’s a blow to Nigeria and a blow to her in particular not to make the mark when it matters.

“An athlete of her repute, the federation was supposed to keep watch of her commitment to the world body as well as anti-doping rule but she reserves the right to either show up or not,” he said.

Gora, the Chef de Mission at the 2010 New Delhi Games in India, said participating at the World Championship remained the apex for any athlete of repute.

“AIU has your details, those people always make effort to ensure that they contact you. So, Tobi did this to herself knowing the stipulations and the consequence; I wish the rest of the contingent success,” he said. (NAN)