The scourge of age cheats in Nigeria’s sports terrain may soon become a thing of the past, if critical words spoken by technocrats in the sector from all across the federation are anything to go by, Sports247 reports.
The swipe at falsification of age, according to National Sports Commission (NSC) director-general, Bukola Olopade, was a major issue tackled, with a decision reached, during the conference of directors in Calabar, Cross River State.
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Olopade affirmed that all delegates at the National Council on Sports were unanimous in their views and verdict that a strong stance should henceforth be taken against the issue of falsification of ages in the sector.
He disclosed, “The technical committee agreed that we have a scourge called age cheating in our sports. It was a heated topic when the debate started.
“At the end of the day, everybody agreed that there must be a draconian approach in the punishment of coaches, officials and stakeholders who encourage their wards to lie about their age.”
Although he feigned ignorance of various strategies used by athletes to falsify their ages, Oloyede further revealed that the delegates exposed all antics that are currently being employed in the scourge and proferred solutions to end it.
“They fabricate birth certificates or even change their NIN details. I don’t want to believe that is happening, but we were told during this debate that it does happen. However, everybody came together, and we all agreed on the need for a drastic change.
“All the states’ directors of sports, even when they were accused of being responsible for most of these anomalies, they all agreed that it has to stop,” Olopade affirmed.
He concluded by outlining some of the methods and strategies that were forwarded by the delegates as well as innovations that will be introduced towards ending age cheating in Nigerian sports once and for all.
Olopade submitted: “It starts with the conscience, and that’s one of the major things we achieved at this conference.
“Another thing that excited me about the conference was the issue of insurance and welfare of athletes.
“We also agreed collectively that we must expand the membership of Nigeria’s council of sports. We must allow sponsors, government agencies and other stakeholders contribute, in order to add value to this sector.”
