Enefiok Udo-Obong, former Nigerian sprinter and accomplished athlete has called on government, sport administrators to put an end to monetary reward for undergrade athletes and tournaments as he reveals that it breeds age cheat in Nigeria sport.
He made this known in the just concluded two days Sport Impact Africa Seminar convened by veteran journalist Deji Omotoyinbo with the theme ‘Unlocking Nigeria’s Sports Industry Value Chain and Youth Potentials’.
The only Nigerian to win two Olympic medals called on the government of Nigeria and sports stakeholders to shun cash rewards to all undergrade tournament such as the U-17 representing Nigeria at the world cup or at any level as this is the only way the issue of age cheat can be tackled.
According to him, when they know that they are going to get money, every body including the coaches will do what they feel they can do just to make sure that wining will be guaranteed. But if we have the scholarship for thier education or anything else, this will only be attractive to those at that level.
‘Nigeria should not join other people when it comes to age cheat, we need to work on ourselves, we can put an end to it but I think the issue of money is what is making everyone to come with the mindset so much that they do everything to make sure they get something from the government.’
‘I urge the government to stop anything monetary for our undergrade tournaments or championship,” he advocated.
