Athletics Championships can’t hold in Nigeria, Sports Authorities counter Sports Minister
Nigerian Sports Authorities (NSA) has insisted that athletic championships cannot be hosted in Lagos between 23 and 27 June due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare had agreed in an interview last week, to host the event in Lagos in place of Algeria, who had asked for a postponement while also citing COVID-19.
Yesterday, the Nigeria Sports Authority in a report insisted that the championship cannot be hosted in Nigeria. The troubled African Athletics Championships has again lost peace as the recent developments leave the future of the athletics in doubt for this year despite Algeria insisting it is still willing to host the event later this year, if an alternative solution is found for COVID-19.
Initially, the Championships were supposed to be held in the Algerian city of Oran between the 1st and 5th June 2021, before it was postponed to Algiers and set to take place on 22-26 June.
The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) hoped that with Nigeria hosting the Championships would give athletes the chance to achieve qualifying standards for the Tokyo Olympics ahead of the 29 June deadline.
Sadly, the 2020 biennial championship which should have taken place last year may have to be postponed or possibly cancelled, CAA expressed.
