The Ministry of Youth and Sports is to send air tickets for the Rio Olympics to athletes by midweek.
Youth and Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung said this during a meeting with the President of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria AFN and staff of the Federation of Elite Athletes Department FEAD in Abuja yesterday.
The Minister had summoned both parties to establish the author of the email purportedly sent to athletes on behalf of the ministry.
Barrister Dalung reiterated federal government’s commitment to ensure that Nigerian athletes are well taken care of ahead of the games, describing the mail as mischievous.
“The author of that email lacks the authority to write on behalf of the Ministry or even the Federal government of Nigeria. At no time did we ask our athletes to sought for funds to travel knowing too well that athletes are very fragile people to be managed. There are so many things that come to play in determining their success. It’s not just skills, training and determination. The psychology of an athlete at the point of contest is also very important so if you ask them to look for money to buy air tickets, how sincere could you be in terms of planning for Rio. The said letter which generated a lot of negative reactions is not the position of the ministry. We have a responsibility to transport our athletes to and from anywhere they are because they are on national assignment. Whosoever published that email and his motive will definitely be investigated” Dalung said.
Team Nigeria to the Rio Games will depart on August 1 2016 through Ethiopia Airlines as the Games village opened on July 24, 2016.
