Edo would continue to produce Athletes for other states to poach, says Alli

Alli said: “For us in Edo state we are not ready to cut corners but our athletes are ready to compete with others and you know that Edo state is always the state to beat at the festival.”

By Uzor Odigbo

The Edo State Sports Commission Chairman,Yusuf Alli has stated that the Edo State Contingents at the ongoing National Sports Festival are not desperate for top spot like some other states.

The National Long Jump Record Holder (8.27m) said, “For us in Edo state we are not ready to cut corners but Our Athletes are ready to compete with others and you know that Edo state is always the state to beat at the festival.

“Poaching is not the best for development, for we in Edo State state our Vision as a Government is to produce ten thousand Athletes in the next few years, let other states come and poach our Athletes, but when you take them out, these Athletes would come back to the state and invest back home,” he said.

He added: “One of the first thing we have done at the State Sports Commission is that every School in Edo state now has sports in the School Curriculum. I must thank the Governor of the state, H.E Godwin Obaseki and his Supportive deputy Phillip Shuaibu for supporting our vision, and I can tell you in few years this Vision would Yield good results and Edo would be the state given out Athletes to other states.”

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According to Fak Media, Alli has also boasted that the state would come first in the 100m men.

He said: “Though we came with lesser contingent compared to last year Sports Festival in Benin but I can still tell you that Edo would target Seventy gold medal at the end of the Biannual Competition here in Asaba.”