FEATURED NEWS
Again, Anugweje Heads Anti-Doping Commission
- Details
- Published: 12 October 2021
By Sam Kpenu
Again, the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, has appointed the Director, University of Port Harcourt Sports Institute, Professor Ken Anugweje as the Head of the Medical and Anti-Doping Commission of the Federation. The reappointment followed the embarrassing outing in which 10 Nigerian competitors consisting of track and field athletes were barred from competing at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic Games by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU). The AIU was founded by World Athletics in April 2017 to combat doping among athletes.
“The Federation has taken this proactive step to avoid future occurrences by appointing Professor Ken Anugweje as the Head of the Medical and Anti- Doping Commission of the Federation,” Tonobok Okowa, the President of the AFN, said in a statement he signed on behalf of the Federation. Professor Anugweje had earlier headed the AFN’s Medical and Anti-Doping Commission during the administration of Solomon Ogba.
The athletes barred from competing at the Olympics are Ruth Usoro, Favour Ofili, Chioma Onyekwere, Annette Echikunwoke, Chidi Okezie, Knowledge Omovoh, Rosemary Chukwuma, Glory Patrick, Yinka Ajayi and Tima Godless.
Although, the athletes did not test positive for any prohibited substances, but they were barred because their out-of-competition tests did not comply with the sample collection and analysis standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The AFN President assured Nigerians that the Federation has put in place appropriate measures to comply with Rule 15 of the Anti-Doping Rules of World Athletics, explaining why the 10 athletes did not receive the clearance to compete at the game from the AIU.
“All our athletes resident in Nigeria who qualified for the Olympic Games completed the three mandatory tests. Most of our top athletes resident in the USA also completed their tests,” Okowa said in the statement.
Meanwhile, Professor Ken Augweje has assured Nigerians that he would put in place appropriate measures to comply with Anti-Doping Rules of World Athletics body and promised to rewrite the unwanted records that has put the nation in bad light.
