Team Nigeria
counts Athens Olympic loses
By Uzor Odigbo
Correspondent, Lagos
There are strong
indications that most Nigeria athletes that attended the Athens 2004 games
could not be accounted for by Team Nigeria after the games.
Daily
Independent gathered that athletes whose destinations could not be
traced were mostly from the lesser sports after enquiries were carried out.
One of Team
Nigeria’s chieftain, a source said, was fingered to have colluded with
athletes in deceiving officials by offering excuses that they were returning to
Nigeria only to have their passports released to them. On further
investigations, it was discovered that the athletes did not return to
Nigeria.
“Our poor
performance in Athens made officials to be a little relaxed in athletes monitoring.
This made some of them who were bored after finishing their events earlier
request for their passports to enable
them return home. But one funny thing was that these athletes were
accompanied by their association officials begging for the release of their
passports and return tickets” said a Team Nigeria official who pleaded
anonymity.
The source also
hinted that apart from athletes from the lesser sports, there are those who had
already notified Team Nigeria officials with the request to be allowed to stay
behind to improve their sports. Such request, he continued, cannot be granted
in Athens.
On why athletes who
wish to stay behind in Europe would not be allowed, the source said, it was not
the normal practice, adding that there are procedures to be followed especially
at the embassies of countries concerned. Team Nigeria, as a responsible body
would give account of everyone that was brought to Athens.
Similarly, in a
chat with Daily Independent, one of the missing athletes who pleaded that her
identity be kept secret, said it was normal practice for athletes to find means
of improving their sports. “I did not wish to stay behind for the fun of
it, I have seen others who did the same thing and today, their sports and life
are not the same. It is not a crime to stay behind, after all, some of us who
competed in Athens were those who did not come back after Sydney 2000 Olympics,
so why should mine be different”
