Nigeria’s growing influence in global athletics administration has received a significant boost with the appointment of Commodore Omatseye Nesiama (Rtd) as an International Referee for the World Athletics Relays, Gaborone 2026.
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The championship is scheduled to hold from May 2 to May 3 in Gaborone, Botswana.
The historic appointment makes Nesiama the first Nigerian to officiate as a referee at the World Athletics Relays, one of the most prestigious events on the World Athletics calendar.
His engagement was confirmed in a formal communication from the Local Organising Committee of the World Athletics Relays Gaborone 2026, which was made available to the Sports247 in Abuja on Thursday.
According to the organisers, the appointment recognises Nesiama’s expertise and reflects the confidence of World Athletics in his ability to uphold fairness, professionalism and technical excellence.
A respected authority in athletics officiating and competition management, Nesiama previously served as a referee at the 2024 African Games in Accra, Ghana, where he played a key role in ensuring smooth technical operations.
He was also appointed a World Athletics-certified lecturer, training Ghanaian technical officials ahead of the Games, further underlining the international confidence in his competence and depth of knowledge.
Nesiama is a former Technical Director of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) and currently chairs the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Technical and Development Commission.
He is also a member of the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) Technical and Competitions Commission.
Over the years, he has served as a sports management consultant, competition director, technical delegate, World Athletics-certified lecturer and Silver Level Referee, officiating at several national and international championships.
Ahead of the World Relays, Nesiama has also been invited to officiate at the Botswana Golden Grand Prix, scheduled to take place a week before the global event, further demonstrating the confidence reposed in his expertise.
His appointment is widely regarded as a milestone for Nigerian athletics administration, signalling growing international recognition of Nigerian technical officials and their capacity to perform at the highest level of global sport.
