Sports Ministry ready to repay half of missing $150,000, says IAAF

By Admin Nigeria’s Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung has supposedly pledged to immediately sign-off the repayment of half of the missing $150,000 (£106,000/€121,000) mistakenly sent to the country last year by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), reports www.insidethegames.biz. According to inside the games, IAAF confirmed it had yet actually received this money and were continuing attempts to recover the remaining debt. This money was sent to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN) last year instead of the scheduled payment of $15,000 (£10,500/€12,000) due to be awarded to National Federations. The mistake initially went unnoticed before an IAAF accountant realised and contacted the Nigerian body for a refund. By this point, though, the money appeared to have disappeared. Dalung eventually set up a committee to look into where the money had gone. An IAAF spokesperson said an unspecified “small” amount had already been paid back. A pledge to return the $75,000 (£53,000/€60,000) was supposedly given by Dalung during a meeting at the African Athletics Championships in Asaba. It is not clear why they cannot pay the full amount at this stage. Some figures blamed Dalung himself for the problem.