By Ben Efe 4/5/2025
The National Sports Commission has been called upon to urgently reverse the rule that permits States to present one athlete per event at the National Sports Festival tagged Gateway Games.
As the build-up continues to the May 16 opening date concerned track and field officials argued that limiting States to presenting just one athlete for entry into some of the events was not only against World Athletics best practice but also negates athletes’ development in the country.
“One athlete per State entry must be jettisoned it doesn’t follow world standards.
“For instance, if we have three good athletes coming from a state only one will is allowed entry, it is not like that at Olympics, World Championships, Commonwealth and African Games.
” It is not too late for the National Sports Commission chairman and director general to make amends we need to follow world standards in running the track and field events,” Nigeria Coaches Association president Gabriel Opuana said.
Plateau State director of sports and former national 1500m runner Dr. Ezra Gumel added that limiting one athlete per state was not only detrimental athletics development, but it is also a blow to the moral of athletes who cannot compete.
“It’s only one person per event, for instance I have athletes who can give me a one, two, three in the 5,000 or 10,000 I’m only allowed to field one…why must we deny the other two the opportunity to compete at the National Sports Festival that is not how it is done at the world level
“We are trying to kill the moral of the other athletes who cannot compete. And this three month residency rule, which could have allowed them to compete for other states has complicated matters for them. I call on the NSC Chairman and DG to look into the matter, We should be following world standards and not our own whims,” said Dr. Gumel.
He added that in some other events more than one entry are allowed: “I do not understand the criterial for that, if we have to do it one athlete per state, it must be in all the events.
Also, there would be no heptathlon and decathlon contests.
“Combined events are excluded from the National Sports Festival, and these are events that our athletes would go and fight for medal at the Africa Games, World Championships and Olympics, if we cannot groom them from the sports festival where else can we groom them? Opuana quarried.
