Ogba hails Coe, WA decision to reject Ofili's switch of allegiance to Turkiye

Ogba hails Coe, WA decision to reject Ofili's switch of allegiance to Turkiye

A stakeholder in global athletics and former president of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Chief Solomon Ogba, on Thursday hailed the decision of World Athletics to deny Team Nigeria sprinter Favour Ofili a change of allegiance from Nigeria to Turkiye.

Early on Thursday, the World Athletics Composition of the Nationality Review Panel rejected Ofili’s application to transfer allegiance from Nigeria to Türkiye.

Chief Ogba described the decision as justice not just for Team Nigeria but for many developing countries that sweat day and night to develop athletes, only for those athletes to be snatched by other countries because of their economic power.

The panel in its report states that approving the transfer would compromise key council imperatives, including protecting the credibility of national representative competitions and preventing the systematic recruitment of overseas athletes for Olympic representation.

Her case was reviewed as part of 11 applications submitted by the Türkiye Athletics Federation, which World Athletics determined were linked to a government-led recruitment strategy aimed at strengthening teams ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Despite being granted Turkish citizenship and signing a lucrative club contract, Ofili remains ineligible to represent Türkiye in National Representative Competitions such as the World Championships or Olympic Games.

Ogba said, “I want to specially thank the president of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, a true friend of developing countries, members of the panel and the World Athletics family for standing with the truth. How can a country give an athlete the opportunity for his or her talent to blossom from primary school, to secondary school and to the collegiate level, then a country that doesn’t believe in the athlete when he or she is just a potential, come with bags full of money and snatch the athlete, it’s unfair, its unjust and should be discouraged’’ 

Ogba urged athletes to be focused and more committed to their careers. 

“Usain Bolt did not need to change allegiance before he became one of the very best in athletics, Julien Alfred did not dump Saint Lucia, Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest marathoner of all time, he is still wearing the colours of Kenya’’

He urged athletes to be wary of managers, coaches and friends who usually push them to make decisions that will have a negative impact on their career.

He also appealed to them not to always think about the immediate, but the future. He posited that when an athlete changes nationality, the host sees them as just machinery who betrayed their country for financial gains.

“Most athletes who dumped Team Nigeria always come home to seek our help after their careers. My advice to our athlete is to stay where you are. The grass may look greener on the other side, but there is life after athletics, and it is only your country that will allow you to be a coach, a manager, president of the federation and other opportunities after your career." said Chief Ogba on a final note.