Oduduru should appeal his six year ban, says AFN

Divine Oduduru

United States-based board member of the Athletics Federation of Nigeria (AFN), Victor Okorie:, has advised sprinter, Divine Oduduru to appeal against the six years ban placed on him by World Athletics.

“No evidence of doping against Oduduru, so they must acquit him,” Okorie, who is AFN’s Performance Director said in a message to The Guardian.

Okorie also advised Oduduru to appeal the $3,000 fine slammed on him. “I think he should appeal the fine. World Athletics, yesterday, gave Oduduru 30 days to appeal the six -year ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS.

The Nigerian 200m record holder was on Thursday slammed a six-year ban by a three-member disciplinary tribunal for committing two Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) of Possession of Prohibited Substances and the Attempted Use of a Prohibited Substance or Method and ordered to pay World Athletics US$3000 towards its expenses regarding the case.

He was also ordered to pay World Athletics US$3000 towards its expenses regarding the case.

“To procure those substances, he engaged into a scheme with his teammate who in her turn was procuring those substances on his behalf from a person who was illegally bringing them to US in order to distribute among athletes with the aim to improve their sport performance, thus influencing unfairly the outcome of athletic competitions, including the major ones’, wrote the Athletics Integrity Unit on its website.

In his defence during his hearing, Oduduru insisted he was not a drug cheat and the evidences used to ban him were largely circumstantial.

He also insisted he should not be made to pay for the messages exchanged between Blessing Okagbare and Eric Lira as well as the evidence of the individual who reported he