Earlier in the week, 20 athletes, including 10 Nigerians, were barred from taking part in the Games due to a failure to be registered for mandatory testing.
Some Nigerian athletes have hit the streets in Japan to demonstrate against their country’s administrators after they were disqualified from participating in the ongoing Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Photos: Nigerian athletes stage demo in Japan after being disqualified from Olympic Games
In a statement, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said the affected athletes failed to achieve the minimum number of doping tests required to compete at the Games.
: Nigerian athletes stage demo in Japan
Pulse Ghana
On Friday, though, some disappointed Nigerian athletes decided to make their frustrations known by hitting the streets.
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Led by Blessing Okagbare, the athletes expressed their anger against the sports administrators in their country for their incompetence.
Nigerian athletes stage demo in Japan
Pulse Ghana
“I have said it before and I will say it again. If you do not know the sport, not passionate about it/us (the athletes), then you have no business there as an administrator,” Okagbare lamented.
“The sport system in Nigeria is so flaw(ed) and we athletes are always at the receiving end of the damages.”
Nigerian athletes stage demo in Japan
Pulse Ghana
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This comes as a big blow to Nigeria, for whom 13 of their 25 medals from the Olympics have come from athletics.
The Athletics Integrity Unit is an independent body created to oversee anti-doping regulations by the World Athletics.
In all, 20 athletes from seven countries have been disqualified from the Games, with Nigeria being the most affected.
