By Ben Efe
Nigeria Wrestling Federation president Daniel Igali is enraged the country is yet to take any concrete step towards repositioning it’s sports after the fiasco at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Wrestling which fetched Nigeria a silver medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics came short during the Games at French Capitol and Igali argued on the sideline of the National Youth Games in Asaba Delta State, the country was only interested in funding attending games and not funding prepations.
“Every serious wrestling country I know does not spend less than $3 million a year on wrestling,” said Igali who is also Bayelsa State Sports Commissioner.
“I’m talking serious countries. And when we talk serious countries, I talk about the US. US is $16 million a year. That is over $20 billion in Nigerian currency. Iran has about $8 million a year. Russia has between $8 and $10. There is this up and down between $8 and $10. million dollars a year.
“But these are the countries we are going to be competing with. These are the countries, they pay the same airfare, they sleep in the same hotels, they do everything with us.
“What we do in Nigeria is that we fund games. So if we had the Olympics Games, Commonwealth Games, amongst the Commonwealth Games, there would be money and we would go.
“If we have the African Games, a month or a couple of months of the Games, there will be money. Money will come and we’ll go. Olympics, we will fund those competitions.”
He added the country’s quest to win medals it has not prepared for will continue to be elusive.
“It takes four years…The cycle starts now, and another four years comes so soon. So if the Wrestling Federation does not have funding how do we take these athletes to camp?
“Where do we get the funds? It is zero. So I don’t know if I should go further to tell you who should be responsible.”