The technical director of Lagos State Swimming Association, Coach Emmanuel Emenuna has raised eyebrows over the disqualification of a first placed swimmer in his team at the ongoing National Youth Games (NYG 2024) in Asaba, Delta State.
The swimming buff, fondly called ‘Coach Goodie,’ stated further in an exclusive interview with sports247.ng that the screening of athletes at the Games has also been riddled with controversy.
This exclusive news is Powered by the support of Kiraa FC, Deo Sports Sphere and GIGM
He insinuated that the officials are colluding with other competitors to outdo Lagos State’s swimmers through questionable decisions.
Coach Goodie started with positive words about the propects of Nigeria winning a gold medal at the Olympic Games few years from now, but stressed that more attention should be given to the issue of age cheating at youth competitions like the one going on in Asaba.
He added, “There is a prospect for Nigeria winning gold at the Olympics. We can see all these young swimmers are coming up. The young athletes are springing up.
“The only thing that worries me is age cheating. Although it is minimal this time around.
“It’s a little better, and we are trying, but we still have some lapses, and we can still do better. There are some mistakes, but they are minimal.”
He then took a swipe at irregular decisions by some officials, which he alleged was indirectly meant at preventing Lagos State from cleaning out the medals.
“If we allow under-15 athletes to compete, especially in swimming, the rules allow them even if they are 15 at the time of the Games.
“One of our swimmers was disqualified on that count, but someone who is older was allowed. It was clear, and we know all these things are politics; but we in Lagos State always do proper screening.
“Lagos State did their screening very, very well, because we don’t want any overage athlete and they don’t need to go and cheat to win.
“That was what Lagos State did, and we coaches, as well as the board members, had to abide by the rules,” Coach Goodie stated.
He added that the thorough screening embarked upon by Lagos State before the Games paid off with the registration of many young swimmers, only to see one of them disqualified on technical grounds after winning a race.
Coach Goodie submitted, “We came with our young ones, but it was unfortunate that one of my swimmers was disqualified based on technicality.
“She won easily, with a large gap, but they said she passed the margin.
“If we started quoting the laws, it would cause problems. That’s why we decided to abide with their decision.”
