Lagos approves N20m grant for Olympics-bound athletes

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos governor, has approved N20 million grant for the Lagos-based athletes heading for the Olympics later this year. 

According to NAN, Sola Aiyepeku, chairman of Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC), who spoke on behalf of the governor on Friday, said the grant is to help the athletes prepare for the Olympic games.

He said the eight beneficiaries will get their endowment by the end of May and it will be shared equally among them.

“The athletes are not aware of the plans of the commission for them, but we have approached the governor on their behalf and he has approved N20 million for them,” Aiyepeku said.

“The governor approved the money so that each of the eight of them will get N2.5 million each as their training grant for participation in the 2020 Olympics.

“The athletes will all get their grant before the end of May so as to complement their preparations.”

Speaking on the just concluded Edo 2020 National Sports Festival (NSF), Aiyepeku complained about other states poaching Lagos athletes.

He added that the commission will work to ensure the reduction of such practice in the future, stating that any athlete not representing Lagos must pay to access the state’s facilities henceforth.

“During the last national sports festival, we discovered during the table tennis games that out of about 40 of those who played, more than 20 of them were Lagos-trained athletes but representing other states,” he said.

“Right now, we will reduce such and those athletes that want to train in Lagos to represent other states using our facilities will be charged commercial rates.”

Team Lagos finished fifth on the final medal table at NSF with 32 gold, 40 silver, and 54 bronze for a total haul of 126 medals.