NOC briefs FG on African games, Olympics preparations

NOC President, Habu Ahmed Gumel

Solicits Govt’s Support For Programmes
President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC), Habu Gumel, has urged the Federal Government to support the committee’s efforts at ensuring many of the country’s athletes qualify for next year’s Olympic Games billed for Paris, France.

Gumel said the NOC and the sports federations have been working hard to ensure many Nigerian medals hopeful attend qualification championships across the world.

Speaking when he led a joint team of the NOC and sports federations chairmen to meet with the Minister of Sports, Senator John Owan Enoh, on upcoming multi-event games Involving Nigeria, next year, at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja, Gumel briefed the minister on preparations for the Winter Youth Games scheduled for Guam, South Korea, January 9 to February 1, 2024; the 13th African Games, March 8 to March 23, 2024, in Accra Ghana, as well as ‘’ by far the biggest, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, to be staged in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11, 2024.”

He said: “Right now the qualification championships for individual and team sports at the Paris Games are going on. As far as the Olympic Games are concerned, a critical take off is qualification tournaments.

‘’That being the case, the failure of any federation of or team athlete to feature in one or more qualification tournaments lined up by international federations ahead of the Games, simply means automatic disqualification from attending the Games.”

To underscore qualification as a key component of the Games, Gumel said that to date only eight athletes have so far qualified, adding that the eight comprised three athletes from athletics, three from boxing and one each from wrestling and cycling,

“We are still