‘We fell short’ — sports minister apportions blame for subpar Olympics outing

John Enoh, minister of sports development, has apologised for Team Nigeria’s “abysmal performance” at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In a statement shared via his X handle on Sunday, the minister said the country’s performance at the Olympics “fell short of expectations”.

Nigeria presented over 80 athletes in Paris but failed to win an Olympic medal — for the first time since 2012.

The contingent battled administrative lapses and poor technical decisions alongside abysmal performances.

In the statement, Enoh said the sports ministry would reflect on what went wrong towards better performance at the upcoming Paralympics.

The minister also revealed that there were no preparations in place for the Olympics upon assumption of office a year ago.

“When I assumed office as the Minister of Sports Development in August 2023, I was confronted with the task of executing four international competitions namely the AFCON, the African Games, the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a matter of a few months,” the statement reads.

“I was also reminded that the Olympic Games is the world’s supreme sports competition, and countries require at least four years to prepare for it.

“I held extensive discussions with the management staff of the Ministry and got to know that preparations for the Olympics, which was less than a year away, had not started.

“In the true Nigerian spirit, it was our view that we should spare no effort to sustain the international sports image of our country. Our target was to re-enact the Atlanta 1996 performance or even improve on it.

“To this end, we embarked on a progressive approach to drive forward the performance of our athletes and coaches. In my first week in office, I requested all National Sports Federations to furnish me with plans and programmes.

“I also embarked on a nationwide inspection of our sports facilities. Subsequently, I constituted a Ministerial Podium Performance Advisory Committee comprising seasoned sports performance professionals to drive our preparations.”

Enoh claimed Nigeria’s preparations for Paris were streamlined to only federations with “bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics”.

The minister also blamed the federations for prioritising “qualification over preparations for the Olympic Games.”

He added that the federations “resisted and defended” their selections following complaints.

“After the African Games, subsequent meetings were limited to the Federations that had bright chances of qualifying for the Olympics,” he said.

“Medals projections were made by all the Federations, although their athletes were still trying to qualify; which lasted until about June 2024.

“The concerned Federations obviously prioritized qualification over preparations for the Games. This seems to have always been the case. This has to change.

“At the end of the qualification period, the selection of athletes and coaches was the absolute responsibility of each Federation. A few attempts to question selection after I got complaints were strongly resisted and defended.”

Enoh had earlier described Team Nigeria’s performance at the 2024 Olympics as a “disaster”.