By Gracious Akujobi Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) Technical Director, Omatseye Nesiama, said lack of funds is likely to derail the Federation’s preparation for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Nesiama, who disclosed this in a chat with Prompt News Online in Abuja said the Federation would not be able to carry on with its preparation for the Games scheduled to begin in Glasgow, Scotland, on July 23 -3 August.
According to him, the commencement of the next phase of camping for international competitions after it broke-off its conditioning camp for athletes on Jan. 31 in Abuja would depend on the availability of funds.
“The only thing that is actually affecting us is funds because to keep the athletes in camp, you need funds and the funds that we got was just enough for the conditioning period.
“Now that we are going into specifics, I have discussed with the Minister of Sports and Director-General of National Sports Commission (NSC), it is being worked out right now as they are willing to support us.
“So, once that is done and the budget is approved the athletes will come back to camp and be admitted into the performance system and from there the performance system will take care of them (athletes)” Nesiama said.
He also assured that the multi-million naira (NSC) High Performance centre located at the package `B’ of the Abuja National stadium would be put to use by the end of this month.
The technical director added that the third phase of the conditioning camp would commence if funds were available after the AFN’s “All-Comers Over-distance and Distance Relays,’’ scheduled to take place between February 14-15 February in Sagamu,Ogun State.
Prompt News Online recalls that the first phase of conditioning camp ended in Abuja on December 20,2013.
