By Uzor Odigbo
Three top Nigerian AthIetes namely Favour Ofili, Rosemary Chukwuma and Tobi Amusan have been withdrawn from competing in the ongoing 23rd African Athletics Championships.
The trio failed to start in the semifinal heats of their respective events despite being confirmed to start which is a contravention of World Athletics technical rules concerning participation of athletes.
Rule 4.4 titled Failure to Participate, sub-section 4.4.1 and 4.4.2 says an athlete shall be excluded from participation in all further events (including other events in which they are simultaneously participating) in the competition, including relays, in cases where: (1) final confirmation was given that the athlete would start in an event but then failed to participate or (2) where an athlete qualified in any qualification Round of an event for further participation in that event but then failed to participate further.
While Amusan fell under the first category, the duo of Ofili and Chukwuma contravened the second.
The implication of this is that Nigeria may find it difficult to raise a competitive 4×100m relay team.
This development was ignored in Benin National Trials when AFN failed to apply the rules following no show exhibited by most foreign based Athletes.
However, an AFN technical official assured the rules won’t affect their participation at the Paris Olympics
