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Johnny Edward.
The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has relisted para-sports in the National Sports Festival billed to hold in Delta State from November 28, The PUNCH reports.
This comes six days after the National Council on Sports had made moves to remove Para-sports from the country’s biggest sports competition.
Para-athletes across the country had staged protests in Lagos, Edo and Akure, faulting the ministry’s decision to remove their events from the festival.
But in a statement signed by the ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, and made
available to The PUNCH on Monday, the ministry relisted Para-sports at the NSF, after consulting with stakeholders.
The statement read, “The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, in consultation with stakeholders in sports, hereby relists the following Para-sports to the National Sports Festival in Delta State: Para-Athletics, Para-Table Tennis, Para-Powerlifting and Deaf Sports (athletics and table tennis).
“However, the ministry wishes to state that their events will be limited to where Nigeria has competitive advantages.
“This decision was taken in the overall interest of sports development in Nigeria, as the National Sports Festival has become the flagship Games for the discovery, grooming and empowerment of our youth athletes.”
The sports ministry, however, condemned the action of the athletes who protested the eclusion of their sports from the biennial event.
“The ministry condemns the behaviour of some misguided athletes who engaged in unwarranted acts of protests and blackmail without recourse to due process.
“This action, which led to the disturbance of public peace and the good image of sportsmen and women, especially with the recent public acceptance of the superlative performance of Team Nigeria at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, is a breach of our Sports Ethical Code.
“The ministry wishes to state further that it will apply the rules in dealing with such acts in due course. Athletes must learn to follow the due process laid down for resolving issues.”