Commonwealth Athletes Demand Reward, Condemn FG Handshakes

By Tana Aiyejina Nigeria’s medallists at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia are unhappy over the Federal Government’s refusal to reward them financially after their performances at the Games. Nigeria ended in ninth position at the Games with nine gold, nine silver and six bronze. But the medallists said they were shocked when they only got a handshake from Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo, who received them at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on May 29. Some of the athletes, who spoke with our correspondent, also lamented their inability to see President Muhammadu Buhari “We waited for a long time to see the President but eventually, it was the Vice-president who came to see us and gave us handshakes only,” Roland Ezuruike, who won gold in the men’s powerlifting event at the Games said. “It was very painful that we had to travel all the way there for only a handshake. I think there should be a special consideration for athletes with disabilities because it takes a lot of courage and determination for many of us to go into sport. “We were expecting that some form of reward would be given to us when we were told that the President would receive us. Many of us rely solely on sports to feed our families and pay bills. The current state of the country is very discouraging to para-athletes and motivation for those of us in sports come in the form of rewards from the government. I was disappointed.” A coach, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed the sports ministry gave each athlete N25,000 for the journey to Abuja to meet the President. He added that they were all devastated, when they were not considered for financial rewards by the government. The source said, “Can you believe that athletes were given just N25,000 to travel by road to Abuja? A coach, who bought N41,000 ticket to fly to Abuja, was given N30,000 as refund by the ministry. When you talk, you are victimised.” Powerlifting coach, Are Feyisetan, confirmed that they got a handshake from Osinbajo but declined to comment further on the incidence. “The Vice-president received and shook hands with all of us but I’m not in a position to comment further on the issue,” Feyisetan stated. A gold medallist, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the government’s attitude towards the welfare of athletes is a major reason why some of the country’s athletes run away during major competitions. The source said, “This is the first time we will attend an event and we are not rewarded. Previous governments rewarded us, and this served as motivation for the athletes, especially the physically challenged ones. Now we are all wailing after visiting the Presidential Villa. “Now the athletes who defected in Australia will be laughing at us because they would have returned home empty-handed. We will continue to lose our athletes to other countries if we don’t treat them right.” Source: punchng