Special Sports athletes Monday morning laid siege to all the access points of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos protesting their exclusion from the National Sports Festival billed for Asaba, Delta State in November.
The athletes and coaches carrying placards and picketing the entrance of the Stadium urged the Sports Ministry owners of the Sports Festival franchise to review the decision and reinstate special sports because, athletes in the category have done Nigerian proud at international sports event.
Activities were brought to a standstill around the stadium as nobody could gain access to the stadium to train or carry out their normal sporting activity.
But speaking on the development Delta State Sports Commission chairman and co/chairman National Sports Festival local organising committee, Tonobok Okowa explained that special sports was not entirely dropped from the Delta 2022 NSF.
“Special sports is wide…we have para athletes, canoe, deaf, para swimming, table tennis and and so on, we cannot choose everyone of them.” said Okowa who is also Athletics Federation of Nigeria president.
“We are only allowed to choose five optional sports and we have chosen the five and so it is not correct Special special sports is excluded,
“We don’t make these decisions it is made at the national council of sports and technical committee meeting and whatever decision they arrive is usually committed to the LOC.
