Nigerian sprint star Favor Ashe has spoken out following his controversial disqualification from the men’s 100-metre final at the 2024 Gateway Games, currently underway at the MKO Abiola Stadium in Abeokuta.
Competing for Team Delta, Ashe was disqualified for wearing only one bib number instead of the required two — a violation of competition rules that mandate bibs be worn on both the front and back of an athlete’s vest.
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The decision stunned spectators, many of whom had anticipated a strong performance from Ashe, who earlier clocked 10.01 seconds — the fastest 100m time by a Nigerian this year — and qualified comfortably for the final.
Speaking to The Guardian, Ashe detailed the sequence of events he believes led to his disqualification.
“The problem started even before the semifinal when I discovered that one of my bibs had suddenly disappeared from my bag,” Ashe said.
“But I explained the situation to the officials at the starter’s blocks, and they allowed me to run.”
Despite passing through the semifinal under the same conditions, Ashe said efforts to locate the missing bib proved fruitless. He suspects foul play.
“I am sure someone deliberately took it from my bag just to create a problem for me,” he claimed.
According to Ashe, competition rules allow a replacement number to be handwritten if a bib is missing — a measure taken by Team Delta officials before the final. He added that even the Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) had initially cleared him to run.
“But suddenly, they turned around and disqualified me,” Ashe said. “I felt so humiliated and disappointed… my disqualification after I laboured to get to the final was a planned work. It was painful.”
In Ashe’s absence, Team Edo’s Ezeaku Chidera claimed gold in the 100m final, finishing with a time of 10.27 seconds.
The Athletics Federation of Nigeria has not yet issued an official statement addressing the controversy as the desirability or not of his disqualification has been a hot debate topic among the fans of the game.
