A bolt of controversy has erupted at the National Youth Games in Asaba, as many of the states have been accused of ‘buying’ potential medalists based in Lagos.
This allegation was ignited by the technical director of Lagos State Swimming Association, Coach Emmanuel Emenuma, who said in an exclusive interview with sports247.ng that poaching has reduced the value of merit at Asaba 2024.
However, the experienced swimming tactician, who is fondly called Coach Goodie, admitted that sports stakeholders in Lagos State made themselves vulnerable through lack of unity in their operations.
Coach Goodie further alleged, “We are supposed to dominate swimming, but we have some cracks. There are many good young swimmers in Lagos State,
especially at Ikoyi Club, but some of the members take their children from there to go and represent other states.
“That’s because there’s a crack in the club, but we are trying to mend it and bring them back together. We want to bring them together and have one voice.”
Coach Goodie further stated that efforts have been intensified to mend all cracks affecting Lagos State’s selection of quality athletes, but lamentated how money conscious middlemen are scuttling those exertions.
“Next year, by the grace of God, we’ll have one team. We’ll not allow anybody to leave Lagos once we are one, and we will then dominate.
“Lagos State will be back working and winning. When you come to Lagos State, you will see the coaches working, but when you go to other states, they are not working. They are just buying athletes who are schooling in Lagos.
“They are buying athletes for their states, and a whole head will say he or she has won something with them, even when he or she has not done anything,” Coach Goodie moaned.
He then specifically mentioned a state that apparently engages in poaching young talents from Lagos, stressing that some insiders allegedly do the recruitment on their behalf.
The outspoken veteran expanded his accusations and added, “Look at Bayelsa State, all the medals they have won are because they bought their swimmers from Lagos. All their focus is on buying athletes.
“Then, what else are you doing as a coach, either male or female? Are you a coach, when you cannot bring up athletes who can win medals?”
He rounded off by pointing out two members of the Lagos State swimming team’s technical crew at the ongoing Games in Asaba and cited them as good examples for other states to follow.
“We have two young coaches with us that have swimming clubs at the National Stadium. You can go there and see their clubs.
“They have their own clubs, from which we got these swimmers, and they are coming up well. But some of these other people are idle.
“We are looking into all of this, and we will see what we can do next year,” Coach Goodie concluded.
