Solomon Dalung, minister for youth and sports development, has disclaimed an email in circulation asking some athletes to book their flights to the Rio 2016 Olympics, to be reimbursed later.
Four athletes — Regina George, Seye Ogunlewe, Nikki Okwelogu and Chierika Ukogu — had taken to different social media platforms to launch appeals for financial support to represent Nigeria at the games.
“To all my family friends and fans thanks for being here for me through the good times and bad times. This year it’s been hard financially for me but it wouldn’t have been possible without your support,” George had written on fund-sourcing platform, gofundme.com.
“I just been told that we will have to pay our own way to the Olympics this year. Sadly, this is such short notice for me to come up with the money. They (Sports authorities) also promised a refund but I’m still waiting for many refunds promised in the past.”
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But responding on Saturday, Dalung vowed to investigate the situation.
“The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development did not direct foreign based athletes going to the Olympic Games in Rio to buy their own tickets,” read a statement by Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the minister’s spokesman.
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“The Director, High Performance Angie Taylor, has been saddled with the responsibility of arranging for the flights and movement of the foreign based athletes to and from Rio.
“We did not write any mail asking athletes to pay their way to Rio. As the overseers of sports in the country, it is our duty to take care of all our athletes.
“The letter did not come from us and we will investigate the writer of that letter. It does not represent our stand concerning the movement of athletes to Rio and the writer or anybody asking athletes to buy their tickets to Rio will be investigated. We ask Nigerians and athletes in particular to disregard the mail.”
Dalung expressed regrets about the embarrassing situation and asked athletes to remain focused on their build-up to the Rio games.
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