More facts are emerging in the chain of factors that occasioned the unsuccessful nationality switch by Nigerian female sprinter, Favour Ofili, whose application was rejected by World Athletics on Thursday.
READ ALSO: Onuachu Leaves Imo State Government In Dark Regarding His Hospital Project
Sports247 gathered that, aside from pressure on the global body by officials of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), the major setback for Ofili was that her name was in too many applications made by Türkiye.
Ofili appeared to have taken her decision to dump her country of birth during the last Olympic Games in Paris, France, when she was again denied the chance of running for Team Nigeria due to an administrative mix-up.
However, instead of enjoying the comfort of an individual application, her name eventually appeared alongside that of five Kenyans, four Jamaicans and one Russian, which the decision makers at the global athletics body considered strange.
At the end of the day, Ofili’s hope of jumping ship came crashing, as her name was submitted alongside ten others in an unprecedented move by Türkiye to get top-rated athletes into their contingent for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, USA.
The other athletes seeking to transfer their allegiance to Türkiye were the Kenyan quintet of Catherine Relin (Selin Can) Amanang’ole, Brian Kibor, Brigid Kosgei, Ronald Kwemoi and Nelvin (Can) Jepkemboi.
Those from Jamaica were Rajindra Campbell, Jaydon Hibbert, Wayne Pinnock and Rojé Stona; while Sophia Yakushina is from Russia, but World Athletics felt the 11 applications would compromise eligibility rules and allegiance regulations.
A media statement by the global body added in part, “The panel found that the applications formed part of a coordinated recruitment strategy led by the Türkiye government acting through a wholly‑owned and financed government club.
“(They tried) to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts, with the aim of facilitating transfers of allegiance and enabling those athletes to represent Türkiye at future international competitions, including the 2028 Olympic Games.
“Given the common features across the applications, the panel assessed them together and determined that such an approach is inconsistent with the core principles of the regulations (and) credibility of international competition.”
